Search For Salvation - Akatsuki
by mysticaldragon11
Summary: Earth has been destroyed so other planets have become home. The only problem is the planets aren't safe and now the teenagers must flee to save mankind.
1. Prologue

Search For Salvation – Prologue

The world had changed. It had evolved and it had thrived, only to perish into a desolate waste land. We mined the earth to its deepest depths and robbed it of its oil, coal and water. We cut down the trees to build our shopping malls and bigger skyscrapers, or housing developments without ever blinking an eye.

The world had moved onto other planets to be terraformed. The world's population depleted as we learned that harsh chemicals from the planet's atmosphere's caused our women to become infertile. Less and less children were born until only one or two made it to term in a ten year span only to be born deformed or never making it from the womb alive.

The older generations were now dying off and the numbers steadily went down until only a few thousand remained. The youngest child was fifteen and the oldest adults were in their thirties. Now the planet had been hit by some unknown illness that was spreading rapidly in the adults. The numbers were decreasing at a terrifying pace.

Now the parents banded together in desperation of saving their children in the hopes one day they would be able to rebuild. An evil lord had taken over the planets and had grounded all ships. The only way to do things now was through money or power. The lord himself was sick with the illness but still people feared him.

The Uchiha's were the richest family of the three planets. They easily paid for their nephew and two sons' freedom. A ship had been secured and a pilot and crew as well. The evil lord had made it impossible for the other teenagers to leave the planets, even though the Uchiha's could afford to free all the teens on the planets.

Lord Orochimaru was a ruthless man and not a bit kind at heart. He had no intentions of saving the population, he was all too happy to watch it die off so it was easier to control. Even as death approached the lord he refused to give an inch. His bodyguards were all too happy to beat up a teenager or a woman if necessary.

Today was the day that the Uchiha's would be leaving this godforsaken planet. They had said their goodbyes and were now getting ready to board the ship. There were some last minute things they needed to do before leaving. All they had to do was not get caught.


	2. Chapter 1

Search for Salvation Ch 1

Zetsu powered the ship up as Kisame checked the engine one more time. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. Kisame walked out of the engine room and headed to the main deck. Zetsu turned to look at Kisame who nodded his approval. Zetsu nodded and turned back to the controls.

Pein, the ship's captain; walked in and looked at his friends for confirmation. They nodded and he held up his hand in a thumbs up sign. Now all they had to do was wait for the Uchiha's to show.

Kakuzu, the ships muscle and banker who was also the captain's first mate and long time friend appeared on the deck as well. "The ships supplies are loaded and stored." He said to Pein. Pein smiled and walked over giving Kakuzu a friendly slap on the back, the way that men often do when they praise each other.

Deidara hurried Naruto along, keeping quiet as they moved from one object to another. The older teen, looking back every now and again to make sure the younger teen remained close. They couldn't get caught by the Lord's guards if they had any hope of getting off of this planet.

The Uchiha teens' had shown up and informed them of their departure and gave them a specific time frame to be at and on the ship or be left behind. Deidara couldn't and wouldn't allow that to happen. They neared the ship yard and slipped through the fence where Itachi had cut it to allow the teens' discreet access. They rushed through the yard hiding behind as many large objects as they could find.

They moved again once Deidara saw it was clear. They neared their destination and crouched behind another ship as a guard walked through the yard making sure that everything was good. Once the guard passed, Deidara grabbed Naruto's sleeve and made a break for it. They made it to the ship and opened the door barely making it inside before the guard made a return.

Deidara pulled the door closed and turned around to face two tall well built men. Deidara and Naruto huddled together at the door as the men eyed them suspiciously. "Who are you two?" Kakuzu asked. "Are you the Uchiha's we're supposed to take off world?" Pein asked. "No, un. We were told by the Uchiha's to come here." Deidara said shakily. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave then. We were hired to take the Uchiha's, no one else." Pein said.

Deidara began to panic. "Please, un. We need to get off world or we will suffer the same fate as everyone else here. I can be useful. I am a bomber and no one knows as much about bombs as I do. I promise we won't be any trouble, un." Deidara pleaded with the captain.

Pein held up his hand and thought for a moment. "You better be as good as you say you are. Welcome aboard." Kakuzu turned to look at Pein in shock. "Are you serious? The Lord will have us hunted if he finds out we took extra passengers off world." Pein sighed and nodded.

"I know, but mankind is relying on the younger generations to rebuild. If there is no younger generation, there can be no mankind." Pein reasoned. Deidara smiled and pulled Naruto along as they followed the captain around the ship. Deidara was going to get to keep his promise after all. He would have found a way to keep it no matter what.

Sasori grabbed his bag and took one last look at the place he called home. His parents had been among some of the first adults to die from the illness. His grandmother had done her best to fill that gap, but of course she too eventually contracted and succumbed to the illness. He was now alone, he had no parents, grandparents, or siblings to speak of.

He walked to the door and stepped out into the sun. He turned his face upwards towards the warmth and the brightness, basking in its beauty. This would be the last time he saw it for a while. He finally walked away, heading for a single destination. The ship yard was located about two miles away. He would have no trouble getting there but getting to the ship would be the tricky part.

Forty minutes later he was in the ship yard hiding behind various ships and waiting for opportunity to present itself. It finally did when the guards changed shifts. He slipped in between this or hid behind that easily. He was short and small so it gave him an advantage. He slipped beneath the ship and around to the other side trying desperately not to be seen.

He opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door quietly. He smirked evilly at the unsuspecting guard's stupidity. It had been easier than he had anticipated. He walked about two feet down the corridor when he was approached by two men. He looked up at them in defiance. They smirked back at him and then finally asked "Who are you? You're not an Uchiha I presume." Pein said speculative.

"And what if I'm not?" He asked cockily. "We have the right to throw you off then." Kakuzu said in a threatening manner. Sasori smirked more. "I have a feeling you may need me." The red head said defiantly. "Why would we need you?" Pein asked. "Do you have a medic on board?" Sasori asked confidently.

This ace in the whole had gotten him just about everywhere he ever wanted to be. "You're a medic? You are a teenager." Kakuzu said skeptically. "I may look young but trust me I am as old and wise as they come." Sasori said. Pein sighed and said "Welcome aboard."

Again Kakuzu looked at his captain as though he had been abducted by aliens. "Mankind, Kakuzu. It's all about the cause." Pein turned and walked away with Sasori following him. Kakuzu shook his head and huffed as he went to go stew about it else where.


	3. Chapter 2

Search for Salvation Ch. 2

Konan eyed the guard as he paced back and forth from one side to the other. He had been waiting for confirmation that all was clear and he could return to the other side of the ship yard. There was a squawk of a radio and then a voice came over the air.

The guard barked back and retreated. She grabbed the fence and slipped through easily. She ducked behind some cargo containers and then waved her hand in the air. A moment later she was joined by her friend Hidan, who had also been orphaned by the disease. The two sat quietly assessing the distance to the ship.

A few minutes went by as they noted a pattern in the guards routine in which he left their path unguarded for two minutes at a time. Taking that opportunity they made a break for it. They approached the ship and hid easily against it. Hidan opened the door and the two scooted through undetected by the guard.

Ten seconds on the ship and they were being confronted by a guy with auburn hair and a brunette who looked like he could do damage just by looking at you. The brunette sighed and shook his head. The tall ginger haired guy rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Let me guess, you're not Uchiha's but you were sent here by them."

Konan blinked a couple of times as if she had seen the most amazing thing and then spoke. "Yeah how did you know?" She looked at the brunette who looked as though he had been shot. The other laughed and waved them through the corridor. "What skills do either of you have?" Konan smiled and said "I can cook anything you ask me too" She was rather proud that her mother had taught her that skill.

"I can kill most anything that moves or don't. I am a really good shot." Hidan said looking at the brunette with a mixture of awe and cockiness. The brunette just disregarded him as another problem. They entered the sitting area and came upon some other teens that had obviously been sent here as well. Konan smiled politely and introduced herself and Hidan to the other three boys.

They took a seat in the lounging area as the captain and the brunette left to check on their progress. They were scheduled to leave in twenty minutes and so far there was no sign of the Uchiha's and a handful of orphans had stowed away on their ship. Pein sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you beginning to see what a bad idea this is too?" Kakuzu asked. Pein just smiled at his friend and shook his head.

Kakuzu scowled and turned to go talk to Kisame. He wanted the Uchiha's to show so they could get out of here and not be killed by the lord's guards. He walked into the engine room and there sat Kisame reading some magazine or other. "How can you be okay with all of these stow a ways?" Kakuzu asked him. Kisame shrugged and went back to his reading.

Kakuzu walked back out to the bridge and stood stewing over the situation. Zetsu was running through the controls with Pein even though it would be Zetsu flying the ship. Kakuzu figured it was just something to kill time with. Pein turned to look at Kakuzu and smiled again at him as he kept up the disapproving look.

"I just want to get in the air." Pein stated and left the bridge to take a look outside for any sign of their real passengers. He opened the door and looked around the ship yard. To his relief three black haired boys who must have been the Uchiha's were walking towards the ship. They walked up to the door and stopped long enough to tell him they were ready and they boarded the ship. Pein closed the door and locked it down.

He called over the speaker to Zetsu. "Get us in the air Zetsu. We're all on board." Zetsu called back a "yes sir." And they were off the ground and heading to open sky. The stowaway passengers breathed a sigh of relief as they headed into the air. They had been on edge since they had arrived on the ship but now they could breathe a little easier knowing that they would be home free in a minute or so.

The three Uchiha's walked into the lounge area as soon as the ship leveled out. They would be entering the planets atmosphere soon and they would need to be buckled in. They sat down and buckled up as they looked around at the other teens. It looked like most of who they had told to come here had shown up. They were quite pleased with this outcome. Had they stayed, they would have perished with the rest of humanity.

They were however a little disappointed that only one girl showed up. Too many girls were afraid to leave their parents to their fate and had decided their place was with them. However, it would cause a problem for repopulation with only one female. With any luck they would find a planet with more humans, but what were the odds? Well they would cross that bridge when it came time. The ship hit the atmosphere and everyone was pushed back into their seats.

Ten minutes later they were all unbuckled and looking out the window at the blackness of space and the twinkle of distant stars. They could see the planet that they had left and a sense of relief and sadness swept over the group. Some for the parents they had lost, others for the parents they were leaving behind. But relief for the life they would be able to live and for the future they would try to save.

Tobi and Itachi went to talk to Pein as they headed out into nothing. "We wanted to know if there was a plan." Itachi said. "Yeah we are going to fly around out here until we find another planet with life on it. We may be in the black for a long damn time. We have plenty of food for five years and we have water and fuel to last us just as long." Pein said. Itachi nodded and Tobi also nodded to show he had gotten it all as well.

They wandered back into the lounge area and found Sasuke deep in conversation with a blonde boy with scars on his cheeks that looked like whiskers. They hadn't actually known any of the kids they had gotten on the ship. They had simply went around finding as many as they could to take off world with them. They would have a lot of time to get to know them as they looked for a new planet.


	4. Chapter 3

Search for Salvation Ch 3

They had been in space for a week. So far everyone seemed to be getting to know each other and getting along fairly well. It was 5:30 in the evening butt he constant blackness made it seem much later than it actually was.

Tobi walked onto the bridge. He had been coming here for the last three days. He loved to watch out the window as the ship glided through space.

Zetsu the ship's pilot had enjoyed Tobi's company. They had talked about what they may find and about Tobi's life back on Sezza. Deidara had learned that Sasori was an artist and a friendly argument had broken out between the two on the realities of true art.

Deidara liked to think his explosions were art in a fleeting sense. Sasori argued that eternal art was the true art.

Sasori made sculptures from wood something that would last for a lifetime. Deidara swore that the instant his explosion went off that that was the true art. They continually bickered as the hours dragged on.

Itachi found that hanging out in the engine room made him feel calmer and more relaxed. He also enjoyed talking to the ship's Mechanic, Kisame. There was something about the constant whir of the ships engine that made him feel a sense of euphoria.

Kisame taught him about the ships parts and the functions of each part. Itachi's mind was like a sponge. He absorbed everything he was taught.

Kisame continually complained about the ships compression coil and how it worked for now but would need to be replaced soon. Itachi found he enjoyed learning about the engine and craved more knowledge.

He would ask a question and Kisame would answer it without hesitation. Kisame was finding that he enjoyed teaching Itachi about the engine. He enjoyed the fact that the engine intrigued him as much as it did himself.

He taught Itachi about the positioning of things as well. Pipes were tweaked, gauges were set accordingly, levers and switches were set to a certain degree.

Hidan found he liked to follow Kakuzu, the ships muscle/banker/right hand man around on the ship. Kakuzu fascinated him with his scars and his logic. Hidan shared Kakuzu's idea on how to deal with a bad situation.

They agreed on what course of action they would take if they were ever attacked. Kakuzu found he liked having the kid follow him around. He couldn't help but think maybe he had found an apprentice.

Hidan enjoyed listening to Kakuzu's battle stories. He and Pein had been together for years since they were both teenagers themselves. Hidan hung on every word the older scarred man said.

Hidan couldn't wait for an opportunity to show Kakuzu his own fighting skills and maybe one day he too would have some awesome stories to tell. He asked Kakuzu to teach him some of his skill to better his own fighting technique. Kakuzu was all too happy.

Pein, no matter where he went seemed to find Konan always there. He thought maybe it was just coincidence at first but now he was sure she was putting herself in his path. He had no idea why she was doing this only that she was wherever he went.

He began to put it together in his head and came up with the answer that she had a schoolgirl crush on him. He thought it was cute and innocent so he let it go. Konan on the other hand was only trying to learn from him.

She followed him so she could learn his techniques and see how he handled situations. She wanted to control a crew and become a captain one day herself so she needed to learn every possible thing that would help her out.

Even if she never got the chance due to the fact that she was the only female and they were the only people left now in existence, she was still going to have a goal. The fact that Pein the captain was good looking only helped her with her mission to lead.

Sasuke and Naruto had been hanging out all week. They were both 15 and the youngest humans alive. They had nothing in common but it made for interesting conversation between the two.

Sasuke was quiet where Naruto was boisterous. Sasuke had a brother (Itachi) Where Naruto was an only child. Sasuke's family was rich where Naruto's had been poor. Sasuke was a bit of a health nut where Naruto lived off of Ramen by the truckloads.

Sasuke like Itachi never showed his emotions where Naruto broke down and cried several times in the last week. Sasuke would sit by the blonde and put a hand on his shoulder and rub it lightly.

He wouldn't speak he would just sit with him until he felt better and then they would go on like nothing had happened. Until the next time that is. Naruto was grateful for Sasuke's presence. He was glad he had met the raven.

The ship was quiet as everyone had gone to bed. Tobi stayed on the bridge in the co pilot seat just watching the stars. Zetsu put the ship on auto pilot as he stood and stretched. He told Tobi he was going to get some coffee and he would be back in a couple of minutes.

Tobi nodded with a smile and turned back to the view. Zetsu left and headed for the kitchen. He stopped long enough to wish Pein goodnight as Pein sat at his desk in a small supply room. He had turned it into an office to keep track of things.

Zetsu went on to the kitchen and made his coffee. He took his time thinking that it would be fine considering that nothing had changed in a week. He finally left the kitchen and headed back to the bridge.

He was almost knocked to the floor by Tobi who came running out of the bridge door a look of fear and excitement on his face. "Zetsu, there is something out there!"


	5. Chapter 4

Search for Salvation Ch 4

Zetsu looked out the window of the cockpit. He could see an object out ahead and he turned on the screen to view it closer. It was a ship that looked as though it had been attacked by something or had self destructed on its own.

Tobi looked at Zetsu in question. "What do you think happened to it?" Tobi asked looking back to the ship. Zetsu turned to Tobi and pressed his lips into a firm line. He shook his head and looked back out towards the wreckage of the ship.

They approached it slowly and began drifting passed when another ship came into view behind the other. This ship was a bit smaller than that of the wreckage and seemed to be hovering next to it.

Zetsu changed the view of the screen and pulled the other ship into view on the monitor. He was zooming in to the cock pit when it finally made a clear picture. He jumped as the people in the other ship came into focus.

They were people by the looks at one time. Now they appeared to be monstrosities of some sort. Their faces were carved and peeled off in places. They had metal rods sticking through their noses and their teeth were sharp like Kisame's.

They had red eyes that no longer held any sign of humanity. They looked as though they were dead without being dead. Zetsu broke the link to the monitor and pulled away from the ships and began to pick up speed.

They were getting away from there as quick as possible. Zetsu felt like trouble had just found them. He wasn't wrong. The ship turned around leaving the wreckage and headed after them. Zetsu closed his eyes and spoke to the ship.

He whispered encouragement to it as he maneuvered this way and that. He only hoped they could out run them with out any problems. Kisame heard the engine kick into high gear and he jumped up from his hammock and headed for the bridge.

He entered the bridge and was about to ask what was going on when the ship shuttered with an impact. He fell to the floor and then jumped to his feet. "What the hell is going on?" Kisame asked as Itachi raced into the bridge and bumped into Kisame and almost knocked them both to the floor.

"Grab onto something and hold on." Zetsu said as he pushed the throttle forward more. Kisame was about to protest that the engine may not hold when another impact made the ship shudder again.

"Damn! We are in trouble if this keeps up." Kisame said. Pein made his way into the bridge when another shudder coursed through the ship. "What the hell is happening?" Pein asked barely getting a hold on the railing before being thrown to the ground.

"We are being chased down by another ship, sir." Zetsu said as he maneuvered again and managed a little distance between them. The rest of the crew and passengers were in the lounge trying to keep them selves upright as they got hit by something over and over.

Kakuzu raced to the storage room. He barely got there before another impact made him fall to the floor. He held onto the wall and pulled himself up to his feet again. Hidan was hot on his heels as he watched the older man open a door in the cargo hold.

"What is your plan?" Hidan asked. Kakuzu looked at him and smiled. He opened a chamber and stepped into it. Hidan followed and Kakuzu shut the door. It was a chamber for a gunman, two actually.

There were seats set in opposite sides of the chamber and Kakuzu jumped into the seat and started loading the guns chamber. Hidan did the same following Kakuzu's example. They loaded and aimed at the ship and finally got a look at what they were getting hit with.

Plasma bursts erupted from the other ship as they shot at their ship. "What the hell is that?" Hidan asked. He had never before seen anything like it and now they were being hit by it.

"Plasma, it targets the engines and if it hits directly it will shut them down and fry all the electrical in the ship. We would be sitting ducks." Kakuzu said through gritted teeth. He turned his gun and began firing.

Hidan turned his and followed suit. They fired over a hundred rounds when one bullet finally penetrated the glass in the cockpit. It was all over after that. The ships glass blew out and the crew was sucked through the opening out into space.

Hidan was intrigued as well as sick. The crew turned to ice as the floated out into the black. Kakuzu jumped down from the seat and walked over to Hidan. He slapped him on the shoulder and congratulated him on his first time winning a battle.

They all headed to the bridge to see if everyone was okay and to see if the ship had taken on any damage. Zetsu was checking all of the mechanisms and so far all were working properly.

Pein turned to Kakuzu and Hidan as they stood watching the ship disappear into the nothingness. "You guy okay?" Pein asked. They nodded and Hidan began excitedly telling everyone how he and Kakuzu had wiped them out.

The whole ship cheered for them as everyone began to calm down and make their way back to bed. Kisame went back to the engine room to check on things and Itachi followed. He smiled at Kisame as they both checked the gauges and made sure it was okay.

Kisame wandered over to another corner of the engine room and pulled out a secondary hammock. Itachi smiled as Kisame fastened it and went back to his own. Itachi crawled into the other one and bid Kisame a goodnight.

Zetsu and Tobi kept their eyes open and minds alert to anything that could appear in the black and they sighed in unison. They looked to each other and smiled. Tobi watched the stars as Zetsu watched the control board. Things were going to be fine as long as they all pulled together.


	6. Chapter 5

Search for Salvation Ch 5

The next two weeks were uneventful. They drug on but everyone kept their pep in hopes that something exciting would happen. Kisame was now sharing the duty of the engine with Itachi. He was impressed with the kid's quick ability to learn.

He knew to check on the compression coil regularly to keep things running smoothly. They were now taking shifts sleeping and watching the engine. Kisame would stay in his hammock and read or tinker with something while Itachi slept.

Itachi would read the manual on all the parts or clean up the engine room while Kisame slept. He felt as though they had been doing this for years they were both comfortable enough around each other it was just easy.

Zetsu too had taught Tobi the basics of flying a ship. Zetsu had set up a cot on the bridge and now he and Tobi took turns keeping the ship in the air. Tobi was in heaven. He never would have thought that flying a ship would be so much fun.

Konan had managed to rope Sasuke and Naruto into learning how to cook. Sasuke had found he rather enjoyed it where Naruto complained so much that they threw him out of the kitchen. Konan was grateful that at least one of them had learned.

Deidara and Sasori were now combining their art. Sasori was sculpting animals and small figures and Deidara was infusing them with explosives. Why you ask. Because the next time the monster people came for them if they were caught they were going to blow them to kingdom come.

Pein rounded the corner headed for his office to check some numbers. He was actually bored out of his mind and wanted to do anything but wander around the ship a thousand more times.

He opened the door and found Konan sitting at his desk. His heart gave a little leap and he closed his eyes in annoyance. She smiled and stood giving him his chair. He eyed her bordely. "Why do you continue to follow me may I ask?" He said sitting down tiredly.

"You may. I want to know what it is like to be a captain. I want to know how to run a crew and be a leader." She said seriously. Pein blinked a couple of times and then laughed. She scowled at him and turned to leave.

He held up a hand and looked her in the eye. "I thought you had some schoolgirl crush on me." He said with a laugh. Now it was her turn to laugh. She looked him in the eye and very smugly said "Don't flatter your self." She kept the firm look as he finally got that she had put him down.

"Hey I am very crushable." He said. She laughed at his usage of the word. "Yeah I bet you are. Like a bug, or a delicate flower. Are you a flower, captain?" She asked very smugly. She turned to leave tossing him a look over her shoulder. "For the record, I have seen cuter." She walked out the door leaving him stupefied.

He got up and went to the mirror on the wall and looked at his reflection. He ran his fingers through his spike and adjusted his piercings. "I am cute! As a matter of fact I am good looking! She doesn't know what she is talking about." He said to the reflection.

Kakuzu and Hidan were cleaning the chambers of the guns. Kakuzu had made the bullets that had been loaded into them. Over time and experience he had learned that most bullets wouldn't penetrate a ships metal.

Hidan had learned that a war had broken out between the Alliance and the Independents. The Alliance was a form of government that tried to keep control while the planets were terraformed.

The Independents were a resistance to the Alliance. They didn't agree with the Alliance being in control of the planets and space. So they built a resistance to the Alliance and fought them long and hard.

Only three planets were habitable and one now sat desolate of any life forms. Obua was the first planet to fall from the plague. Most of its population was killed off by it and the remaining people were transported to Sezza and Mirka.

The Alliance lost the war and the Independents took over. They tried desperately to find a cure for the plague and failed. Then a lord with unlimited power and resources took them by surprise and they all fell under his ruling.

The plague had been brought from Obua and spread throughout Sezza. Mirka had withstood the plague and had continued to flourish until the lord himself contracted the illness and took it to Mirka.

Hidan had been told things by his parents when he was younger about how the lord had come into power. He was appalled at how the lord could be cruel enough to take the plague to a healthy planet and infect all the people.

Kakuzu nodded and handed Hidan another belt of shells. Hidan took the belt and attached it to the end of the last one. He sat back and admired his work. They reset the guns and picked up the cleaning tools. They closed the cargo door and went to find lunch.

Kisame cleaned oil off of the hydraulic cylinder. He had just replaced the seal and was now finishing up. Itachi checked the compression coil and moved one of the gauges back up to its proper place.

He reached for a lever and grabbed Kisame's hand as he too reached for the same lever. Itachi blushed and laughed and so did Kisame. Kisame dropped his hand and went on to something else.

Zetsu brought in two cups of coffee. He handed one to Tobi and sat in his seat. Tobi thanked him and took a sip. They had been doing this for each other for a little over a week now.

Tobi was just waking up and Zetsu would stay until Tobi was fully awake and ready to take over. They sipped their coffee and talked about the stars and the black and how it was hard to know what was coming.

Tobi transferred the controls over to his station and prepared to take over. Zetsu stood up as a blinding light filled the cockpit. Zetsu sat back down and began taking graphs to find out what it was. It turned out to be a sun. A planet lay in the path a ways from where they were located.

This is what they had been waiting for or so they hoped. Zetsu set the coordinates and headed for the planet. He reached over and squeezed Tobi's hand noticing the worry on his face. Tobi smiled lightly and squeezed Zetsu's hand back as the ship got caught in the gravitational pull of the planet.


	7. Chapter 6

Search for Salvation Ch 6

As the planet pulled them in, Zetsu couldn't understand how it was happening exactly. It didn't really matter at the moment considering they were about to be landing on the surface. Pein entered the bridge with Konan in tow.

Kisame and Itachi were checking over the engine, wondering why it seemed as though they were sitting still and idling. Hidan and Kakuzu were standing in the center room of the ship which was the lounge.

There were windows on either side of the ship and they could see the light from the sun shining through them. Kakuzu looked at Hidan and they both hurried to the bridge. They ran into Kisame and Itachi on the way.

Sasuke and Naruto accompanied by Deidara and Sasori were all standing at the large window of the ship. They stared at the planets surface which looked barren. There was no sign of any buildings or anything indicating life at all.

Zetsu ran scans of the air outside. If there were any harmful threats the scanners would pick them up. There were no alerts so far. Pein ordered Kakuzu and Zetsu to get the suits while he and Kisame went to the cargo bay to ready the Scrappler.

The Scrappler was a vehicle that held ten people comfortably and more if they squeezed or sat on someone's lap. The vehicle resembled that of a snow cat from the days back on Earth.

Hidan and Tobi followed Kakuzu and Zetsu to the suit storage room. Zetsu turned to Tobi as he was pulling them out and putting one on. "Keep the ship running. If anything happens and I mean if it looks like your about to fall under attack, you take the ship and leave." Zetsu stated firmly.

Tobi's eyes widened. "Leave? You mean leave you here? I can't do that." He said shaking his head as his blood turned to ice at the prospect. Zetsu looked at him harshly.

"You are the only healthy people left in the universe so far. If anything happens to you then mankind dies off." Zetsu replied logically. Tobi frowned and then nodded slowly. He would do what Zetsu told him because Zetsu was older and wiser than his nineteen years.

Zetsu patted his arm and turned to leave with a suit for one of the other two crew members. Kakuzu had suited up while Zetsu was talking. Now he turned to Hidan. "The guns are ready. If you see anything that looks threatening you shoot it." He said. He patted Hidan's head and walked off with the other suit as well.

Pein and Kisame were standing at the Scrappler. Kisame was suiting up while he ran down the basics to Itachi on the engine. Itachi crossed his arms. "I know all of this. You already taught me. I will take care of it. Just hurry back." He said as Kisame pulled on the helmet and set the oxygen.

"Why are you going to miss me?" Kisame asked teasingly. Itachi rolled his eyes, turned and walked over with the rest of the passengers. They had all gathered in the cargo bay watching as the crew suited up to abandon ship without them.

At least that was Konan's thought as she watched Pein suit up. "You want to be in charge, now is your chance. Keep things running smoothly while we are gone. Tobi has orders from Zetsu to get out if we don't come back and anything looks off." Pein said.

The four crew members climbed into the Scrappler. Pein called out one last order to them. "Stay on the ship, don't open the doors unless we come back and do not leave the ship!" He shouted. Everyone nodded and Pein closed the door.

Itachi walked over and hit the cargo door button and it folded down to let the Scrappler into the Air hatch. Itachi closed the cargo door and opened the outer air hatch door. He watched as the Scrappler drove out onto the ground. He closed the air hatch door and turned to go back to the engine room.

Tobi turned and went back to the bridge. Konan went to Pein's office to study his notes and anything she could to help her out if anything should happen. Hidan went to the gunny chamber and double checked all of the mechanisms.

Sasuke and Naruto went to the kitchen so Sasuke could feed the starving blond and make lunch for everyone else. He liked having the kitchen to himself. Sasori took this time to go to the infirmary and check its supplies. He hoped they wouldn't need then.

Deidara followed the red head and wondered why he was so interested in medical stuff. Sasori watched as Deidara watched him go through a check list. "Sasori, why do you need medical supplies?" He asked curiously.

"I guess you could say that I will be the ships doctor if anything happens." He said shrugging like it was nothing. He continued his check list and went through the needles next. There was a rather good supply of morphine and antibiotics not too mention bandages, instruments and stitching thread.

"You are too young to be a doctor." Deidara said with a laugh. Sasori grinned back and kept going through the drawers and the cupboards.

"I am older than I seem. I am not exactly a teenager. Everyone always assumes that I am so I don't argue the point." He said with a smirk. Deidara's eyes widened as he wondered just how old the red head was.

Pein crept along keeping his eyes on anything that might be a building or a living breathing life form. So far there was no water or vegetation to be seen. There was wind and the dust blew around but that was all.

They drove along keeping at a slow pace when they finally came across a crater out in the middle of nowhere. Out in the middle of the crater was a small building. It looked like an adobe style type but it was a building either way.

Pein stopped at the top edge of the crater and turned off the engine. He looked at the crew and they all nodded. They got out and began walking. They walked towards the building all feeling the same thing. Fear and curiosity among other things coursed through their minds.

They finally made it to the buildings entrance and Pein opened the door carefully. It squeaked a little as it was opened but swung easily. Pein stepped in and turned on the flashlight he had brought from the Scrappler.

He shone the light around the room and was surprised to find that the room was full of tables. There were dish like containers around the room and knives hanging from the ceiling. It looked like the place someone might have cooked and ate.

There was no sign of people human or otherwise so Pein moved along to a hallway that led down some stairs deeper into the ground. Kakuzu, Kisame and Zetsu followed behind slowly each listening for any sounds of someone else being there.

The space in front of Pein opened up into a room of mass proportion. He shone the light on the walls and their eyes took a couple minutes to adjust to the darkness. When their eyes did finally adjust they froze in horror as they laid eyes on bat like creatures the size of humans hanging from the ceiling.

Their claws and teeth were razor sharp and their wings were bladed along the edges. Pein shone the light to the floor and was appalled by what he saw. Flesh and bones and rotting decay caught their eyes. Pein motioned backwards for the crew to get back and out now.

They quietly made their way backwards up the steps keeping their eyes trained on the opening of the hall to see if they had disturbed the sleeping creatures. So far they seemed to be still in slumber and Pein and them maid it back to the main room.

They were about to walk out the door when a screech pierced the air. Pein froze for a second before turned around to look at the hallway. A bat creature was walking slowly into the main room and he looked like he was about to have a feast. Them!


	8. Chapter 7

Search for Salvation Ch 7

Pein grabbed the others and thrust them out the door. He backed out slowly as the creature slunk across the room to the door where Pein had just stepped through. He pushed the door closed in hopes he would be able to hold it until he could come up with a plan.

Kakuzu however was already on the plan part he had run the instant Pein shoved him out the door to the Scrappler. He was already three quarters of the way there and Pein only hoped they had time. Unfortunately the door flew open and the creature plus three came thorough the door.

Pein flew to the ground from the force and Zetsu drug him to his feet. Off in the distance they could hear the Scrappler start and they all prayed that Kakuzu would hurry. The creatures closed in on Pein and them as they kept stepping back.

One of them slashed out at Pein as he tried to jump back. Unfortunately he was too slow and the claws ripped through his suit and into his side. Blood began pouring through the wound onto the suit. This only made the creatures go into a frenzy.

Kakuzu gunned the engine and closed in on the scene. He saw Pein hit the ground as one of the creatures slashed at him. Kakuzu pulled up next to them as quick as he could. He pulled out an oozy from the back seat. Zetsu smiled as he seen the scarred man take aim.

The creatures were now paying attention to Kakuzu. Zetsu and Kisame ripped open the door and thrust Pein inside quickly. Kisame crawled into the seat with him to hold pressure on the wound.

Kakuzu was ripping off rounds as he took down two of the four creatures. Zetsu yelled to Kakuzu to get in and get a move on. Kakuzu looked at Zetsu and he pointed behind the building. More and more creatures were appearing from a hole in the ground around the building.

Kakuzu jumped in and floored it. They flew around in a big circle trying to get some distance between them and the creatures. They made it back up over the edge of the crater and headed back to the ship.

Itachi lay in his hammock looking at the engine. It was idling smoothly, but he still couldn't help but think he would feel better if Kisame were here. If something went wrong they would probably be in trouble.

Hidan sat bordely looking out at the window in the lounge. He saw dirt and sky and nothing else. He kind of wished Kakuzu was back. He found he was no where near as bored with him around. He sighed and continued to watch the dirt blow around.

Tobi looked out the window of the bridge. They had left a couple of hours ago and so far he didn't see anything. He thought about what Zetsu told him about leaving them and he closed his eyes to fight the rage that wanted to come out.

He couldn't even fathom the idea. He looked up at the sky and noticed that the sky was already starting to darken. He turned around in his seat and stood up to leave the room. He went to the lounge and looked out the window for any sign that they were on their way back.

He glanced off in the direction they had gone and immediately began shouting to the others. "Guys, their coming back and there is something on the roof of the Scrappler!" He yelled out. Hidan was immediately manning the guns on the other side of the ship.

He shot at the ones following and he was cutting them down but he couldn't seem to get the ones in the air. They were running and flying everywhere. He aimed for the biggest ones and tried to target the ones in the air again, they just kept making it impossible.

Konan could see the guys in the Scrappler but one of them seemed to be missing. She couldn't tell who with the suits they were wearing. Itachi ran to the cargo bay to open the air hatch. Sasuke grabbed his sleeve and shook his head.

"Won't those things get in here?" He asked wide eyed.

"Well we can't leave them out there." Itachi said.

"No we can't." Konan said in agreement.

A radio crackled to life on the bridge. Tobi barely heard Zetsu's voice. He ran in and picked up the radio and pressed the button to talk. "Zetsu we are going to get you guys in here to safety, hold on." Tobi said and let go of the button.

"No, that is a negative. These things are everywhere. You have to leave. Get out of here and don't look back." Zetsu said looking at Pein. Pein nodded and lay back on the seat. His oxygen was getting low considering how much he had gasped from the pain.

"Zetsu, we can save you. I know we can." Tobi said feeling as though he had been sucker punched hard.

"Tobi, we talked about this. You already know what you have to do. Besides we can't get out of the Scrappler, Pein has been injured and it is pretty bad." Zetsu said, cutting off the mike. Tobi stood at the controls and began to set up the ship for take off.

His eyes filled with tears as he did so. He wiped at them angrily and sat down in Zetsu's seat. He lay his head on the panel for a moment as he overrode his nausea. Hidan kept shooting and so far he had actually cut them down considerably and some were even retreating.

Konan stepped into the bridge and saw Tobi setting the controls. "What are you doing?" She asked, her face was white with fear. Tobi looked at her and glared. He looked away and finished the setting of the controls. He went to take off and nothing happened.

He looked at the controls sure he had done something wrong. He tried again and the ship refused to budge. "Zetsu the ship won't move. I think something is holding it here or something." Tobi said shakily.

Zetsu thought for a moment and then remembered that the ship had been drawn in. "Damn, there has to be something making it stay." Zetsu muttered.

"Did someone say that Pein was injured?" Sasori asked. Tobi nodded and Konan gasped. She took the radio and talked to Zetsu.

"Zetsu is there a way we can get the Scrappler into the air hatch and try to block out as many as possible. We can fight whatever gets in but we need to get Pein medical attention." Konan asked. She put the radio to her forehead and waited for an answer.

Zetsu looked at the others and shrugged his shoulders. "I am out of options. It is up to you guys." Zetsu said. Kakuzu looked at Kisame and Zetsu.

"If we do this and those things get in they could kill all of us." Kakuzu said.

"Yeah but how well do you think those kids would do on their own?" Kisame asked. Zetsu thought for a moment. He looked at Kisame and nodded.

"You got a point." Zetsu said. He looked at Kakuzu and nodded. Kakuzu nodded back.

"Open the air hatch." Zetsu said. Itachi ran down the steps to the control box. He pressed the air hatch button. The air hatch opened and Kakuzu drove into the air hatch and Itachi hit the air hatch button and closed it.

The creatures began swarming the air hatch door and three got in before the hatch was closed. Kakuzu took the radio from Zetsu. "Tell Hidan to pull out the loose guns." Kakuzu said.

"Sasuke ran to the chamber and yelled through the door. Hidan jumped up and went to a metal box and opened it up pulling out an A-K47. He had the magazine in the clip and spun around facing the cargo door.

He looked at Itachi and nodded. Itachi opened the cargo door and stood by waiting to see what was going to come through it first. The Scrappler came through it and one of the creatures was on top of it. Another one made it through the door before Itachi closed it and trapped the other one between the doors.

Hidan began firing at the one that wasn't on the Scrappler. He shot it several times and it still wouldn't die. He shot it again in the head and it finally dropped to the floor and stopped moving.

He took aim at the one on the Scrappler and it seemed to be trying to get into the vehicle very badly. There were gouges and ripped metal in places. Hidan took a breath and only hoped he was as good as he thought he was. He pulled the trigger and the creature dropped from the roof with a perfect bull's eye to the forehead. Sasori was there immediately to collect Pein and get him to the infirmary.


	9. Chapter 8

Search for Salvation Ch 8

Everything was a blur after that. Sasori and Deidara hauled Pein to the Infirmary. HE was already on the verge of unconsciousness from blood loss. Sasori and Deidara quickly removed the suit to get to the wound.

Sasori took scissors and cut Pein's shirt off of him. It had been blue and now it looked deep purple from all the blood. The gash was a good eight inches long and his intestines were threatening to fall out of the gash.

Sasori started shouting at Deidara and Konan to get him supplies. He took the morphine from Deidara and doped Pein up so he could start stitching the wound. He took the needle and thread from Konan and began threading it.

He took gauze from Deidara and cleaned the area with sterile cleaning solution. He dabbed at the blood and had Konan take over catching the blood as he stitched. Deidara ran an IV as Sasori instructed.

A half hour later they were all covered in blood and still worried as Pein continued to sleep. Sasori said it was the best thing for him right now to rebuild his strength. Sasori loaded the IV tube with antibiotics.

Zetsu checked every possible control lever, switch or buttons to see why the ship refused too move. He checked the scans and nothing came to light. He then checked one of the scans above his head that no one paid any attention to ever.

It was reading a high amount of some type of metal alloy. He scanned the readout with his eyes over and over. He ran a break down in the compounds and came to the conclusion it had to be the metal causing the problem.

Kakuzu came to the bridge to find out what the problem was and Zetsu showed him the readout of the break down. "Magnetic alloy. That is why the ship was pulled in and that is why the ship won't leave. It's holding us here." Kakuzu said.

Zetsu frowned. If the ship couldn't leave because of the magnetic alloy then how were they supposed to get away from the planet? He sat down heavily and began thinking of a way to fix the problem.

Kakuzu went to Kisame and told him what the problem was. Kisame stood there for a moment thinking about it. They would somehow need to make the ship non metallic so the planet would release them. He and Itachi set to work thinking of a way to make it happen.

Itachi thought back over his years of schooling and it finally dawned on him that they would have to make the ship the same polarity as the planets magnetic field. By making the charges the same the ship would be thrust away not pulled in.

Kisame read and reread the read outs. He began rewiring the engine rooms wiring harness and began attaching wires to the ships walls to cause the charge to generate throughout the ship. Itachi helped him strip the wires and attach them where needed.

Kisame used a meter gauge to make sure that the wiring was putting out the same exact charge as the planets magnetism. So far they were on the right track. After two hours of rewiring and hooking up the right power to the right areas to make the polarity reverse the ship was ready for testing.

Zetsu got the confirmation from Kisame and he set the controls. He pulled back the throttle and the ship began to shutter as it fought the pull. Within a moment the ship was off the ground and then the surge went through the ship and it was being thrust away from the planet.

Everyone cheered as the ship headed to the inner atmosphere. Ten to fifteen minutes later they were back in the black and no one would have thought they would be so happy about it. They would take anything over the people eating creatures.

Three hours later Pein woke and looked around. He was alone in the Infirmary and he slowly sat up. His stomach hurt like a mother and he was feeling lightheaded. He swung his legs over the side and pulled the IV out of his arm.

He stood up and swayed and then sat back down on the bed for a moment. He stabilized himself and then stood again. He left the Infirmary. He wandered slowly through the ship. Taking small steps, he braced himself on the walls.

He wandered into the kitchen and there sat the crew and by crew he meant all of them. They had pulled through when they were at the worst possible moment. He now considered them his crew. He sat down and everyone gave him a look of relief.

He nodded to his crew and Sasuke sat a plate in front of him. He thanked him and began eating. He looked at Sasori and smiled. "Thank you, doc. I appreciate the work and time you took to sew me back up." He said.

Sasori laughed as if it was nothing and nodded. Deidara looked at Sasori and studied him for what seemed like ever. Sasori finally looked at him and raised his eyebrows at him. "How old are you, anyway?" Deidara asked flustered.

Sasori laughed and shook his head. "That is for me to know and for you to find out, brat." He said teasingly. Deidara pouted but then smiled.

"I will find out one way or another." He said and went back to eating. Sasori sighed and went back to his own dinner.


	10. Chapter 9

Search for Salvation Ch 9

Zetsu set the autopilot and leaned back in his seat. After the incident on the planet everyone was still a bit on edge. Some were hoping they didn't encounter anything out in the black where the rest were hoping the next thing they encountered wouldn't kill them.

He glanced to the cot at the sleeping boy. He had grown fond of Tobi. The kid had a quiet and wonderful disposition. He never argued about anything Zetsu told him and he always seemed eager to help out. Zetsu was grateful that he could count on him in a crisis.

He looked back out at the black and watched the stars for a moment. He wondered what was so special about them. Tobi always watched them in awe. Zetsu however had seen them dozens of times. Now he studied them again. They looked quite beautiful.

Pein sat on the edge of his bed. He winced as a pain shot through the wound in his abdomen. He leaned back and carefully lay there. He had been trying for the past forty minutes to put his boots on and get up but to no avail. The pain was just too much.

He threw his hand out and punched the wall next to the bed in frustration. He hated being incapable. Konan was walking down the corridor when she heard the thud. Immediately she rushed to Pein's room thinking that he had fallen. She was relieved to see he hadn't.

She did however notice that he had been trying to get up and put his boots on. She knew he should be in bed resting but it was boring just lying around doing nothing. She quietly went to his bed and put his boots on him for him. He gave her a grateful look.

She helped him stand without too much difficulty and led him out of his room. She took him into the lounge and set him on the sofa. He leaned back and sighed in gratitude. He was feeling ten times better already. Konan smiled and left him to his peace.

Sasuke broke the egg into the pan and once more explained to Naruto how to cook it so it was cooked on the white and runny on the yolk. Naruto again gave him a blank stare. Sasuke shook his head and sighed. He had never had so much trouble teaching before.

Naruto walked over and sat down at the table. He picked up a cook book and began reading it again. It was hand written by Konan but useful. She was very vast in knowledge of food. She was also very strict in her teachings of the art.

Sasuke finished the egg and set it in front of the blonde. Naruto gave a grateful smile and began wolfing down the egg and the toast that Sasuke had just given him. Sasuke watched the blond and wondered how someone could eat the way he did.

Kisame and Itachi both lay in their hammocks. Itachi was reading something and Kisame was swinging back and forth in his hammock humming a tune. Itachi was at ease with the older guys habits. He found it kept him sane. He also found he enjoyed it.

Kisame stopped humming as he stood. He walked to the engine and checked everything out. It was where it should be so he went on to the compression coil. He could see the coupling on it was getting looser. It would hold up as long as the engine wasn't working harder than it should.

Itachi watched Kisame looking at the coil. He knew how bad it would be if the compression coil blew. They didn't have another one at the moment and it would do severe damage to the ship and the engine. They only hoped it wouldn't happen.

Kakuzu and Hidan hung out in the cargo bay. They rearranged the cargo bay a little bit and set up a work area. They had all of the guns out on the table and were cleaning and loading them. Kakuzu was teaching Hidan to make the shells as they went.

Hidan picked up a magazine and slipped it into the chamber. He aimed the gun and eyed the shot. It was a little off so he went to work realigning he sight scope. Kakuzu was impressed at how fast he had picked up on things. He was also relieved.

They had been doing combat training at night while everyone slept. Hidan proved to be a quick study and he was able to counterattack most of Kakuzu's blows. He had picked up a few moves as they went and created a couple of his own. Kakuzu was proud of him.

Sasori and Deidara had been making bombs that were small with big explosions and big with smaller explosions. Sasori at first had been against using his art to make the bombs. Deidara had been persistent about it so much so that he had told Sasori he would do anything for him.

Sasori of course had been taking advantage of that and had Deidara catering to him most of the time. Deidara would never admit it but he actually enjoyed it. It seems that Deidara was starting to develop a little crush on Sasori. Sure they both guys but Deidara was gay.

No he never told anyone and he was sure that some of them may have figured it out but he wasn't ashamed of it. If it weren't for the fact that they needed to find a way to repopulate the human race he would have made a move on the red head by now.

As it was, everyone was thinking the same thing. Unless everyone got Konan pregnant if it was even possible then there would be no human race left. He shook his head at the thought and finished putting in the fuse. He set it next to the others and picked up the next.

Sasori watched with mild interest as the blond fused the sculptures. He had seen the blond watching him from time to time. He had figured out that the blond must be gay a little while ago. The blond however never said a word about it. Sasori wondered why.

Zetsu stood up and gently nudged Tobi. The raven opened his eyes and smiled. It was his turn to take the wheel. He got up and stretched, then slipped into his seat. Zetsu crawled into bed and drifted off. He was content leaving the bird in the capable hands of his apprentice.


	11. Chapter 10

Search for Salvation Ch 10

Nine weeks in space. That is a long time to be out in the black. A single ship with a single crew to keep each other company. No encounters to speak of and no planets in sight. It was only natural that everyone would become restless.

Tobi had taken to walking around the ship while Zetsu piloted. Itachi had taken to hanging in the kitchen with Sasuke. Hidan still hung with Kakuzu but he didn't interact as much. Sasori and Deidara had decided to begin an ongoing argument about art.

Konan still hung at Pein's side. Some out of concern and some out of her thirst for knowledge. Pein had healed and was doing okay but Konan couldn't get the image of Pein covered in blood and gasping in pain out of her head. So she stayed close.

Naruto had taken to bugging Deidara a lot more and Sasuke hung out in the kitchen perfecting meals. He was at home in the kitchen. Itachi was now his taste tester unless the whiny blond showed up starving to death as usual.

Zetsu would get up and go into the engine room to get away from the controls for a while. He and Kisame would chat and make jokes with each other just to pass the time. Kisame stayed in the engine room most of the time. He felt he needed to.

Kakuzu had kept to the normal routine. Checking the guns continuously. He didn't want to get caught out in the black with out them. He and Pein had been there once. Their pilot had been a rookie and had gotten killed as the ship went down. He and Pein were lucky.

Zetsu walked back to the bridge. He sat in his seat and rubbed his eyes. He was getting tired and would have to let Tobi take over. He reached forward to push the intercom button when one of the scanners picked up something on its radar.

He zoomed in on the monitor and saw a black mass still ten to fifteen miles out. HE furrowed his brows as he wondered what it could be. He sat back and set the coordinates to the mass. Curiosity never really killed the cat did it?

The ship neared the mass, Zetsu pulled up the mass on the monitor. It started to take shape as he studied it. It looked like a planet. The only problem was there was no sun. It would be a dead planet with no sun. Zetsu looked up as they moved closer.

It was definitely a planet. But just as he had thought it was dead. The scans picked up absolutely nothing on the surface. He reset the coordinates and was ready to lock them in when a jolt sent him sprawling over the controls.

He checked the monitor and saw nothing. Tobi rushed into the bridge and was about to ask what was going on when an alert went off that the cargo doors had been opened. Zetsu jumped to his feet and headed to the cargo hold along with the rest of the crew.

Pein stood in front as the doors opened all the way. By rights they should have been sucked out into space. That would have been true if it weren't for the fact that another ship had locked them onto theirs and connected their cargo holds.

What came through the cargo doors was the kicker. They weren't human and yet they weren't quite animal. They were a cross of lizard and bird. They had lizard like skin and bird like faces. Their nose was a big beak that opened to reveal a mouth underneath.

The eyes were creepy as they continually changed from bird to reptile. If the crew hadn't been scared from the bat like creatures on the other planet they were terrified of these creatures maybe more. Pein walked ahead to try to communicate with them.

The one in the front who must have been the leader walked forward. A long lizard tail dragging behind him as he did. "We don't want any trouble." Pein said. The lizard like creature turned to look at his crew. He looked back and bashed Pein in the head with a giant weapon.

Pein went to the ground unconscious. Blood beginning to pour from the now wound in his head made Konan see red in another sense. She rushed forward to punch the leader and was knocked to the floor with a big clawed hand. She stayed put but glared.

The rest of the crew stood not sure what to do. The leader motioned to his crew and they moved into the cargo hold. One of them picked up Konan and threw her over his shoulder. Another picked up Pein and slung him like a sack of potatoes over his arm.

The rest moved to the crew. One creature to two crew members. Kisame and Itachi were grabbed by the arms and escorted off the ship onto the lizards ship. Kakuzu and Hidan were next to go and then Sasori and Deidara.

Zetsu held up a hand and led Tobi off the ship himself. Naruto however decided to give them a hassle and was knocked unconscious. Sasuke was escorted while glaring hard at the lizard guy. They boarded the lizards ship and the cargo doors were closed.

They bound them all in chain cuffs and hooked them all together. Zetsu looked out the window wondering where they were going and what they planned to do with their ship. He couldn't make out anything at first but slowly he began to realize.

They were headed to the dead planet. He was confused as to why. Lizards were cold blooded and always sought warmth. This planet had no sun so it was odd that they would go to a cold planet. None the less the ship remained on course for the planet of death.


	12. Chapter 11

Search for Salvation Ch 11

The ship lowered to the planet but instead of landing on the surface it hovered for a moment as the ground beneath it opened up and the ship lowered into the ground. The ground above them closed once more as the ship glided through a tunnel of rock.

It emerged into an open cave. The cave was full of ships and lizard creatures walking around. The ship landed and the pilot and the leader came to the cargo hold. They yanked them all to their feet, causing everyone to stumble from being bound together.

Pein had come to but his vision was blurry and his head ached fiercely. Naruto was groaning as the poked him continually with some sort of staff. He opened his eyes and they drug him to his feet. A loud noise came from the cargo doors.

When the cargo doors opened they were no longer attached to their ship. The ship had been detached and moved away from the cargo hold doors. Now the lizard creatures were yanking them out of the ship onto the ground. It was amazing to find that their heat came from within the planet.

The core of the planet still heated the planet but only on the inside. It made sense to Zetsu now. Torches for light were lit about every two feet. The crew was now being drug down a tunnel to what seemed to be a holding area for prisoners.

The lizard guards began unshackling them form each other and thrusting them into cages separated by rock and metal. The ground was solid rock and it was actually warm. However the air was stagnant and hot. It wasn't long before they were all perspiring.

Pein sat against the back wall of his cell. His head was still screaming and he was still seeing double. Kakuzu had been placed in the cell next to his. "Hey Pein, doesn't this sort of feel familiar?" He asked. Pein smiled at that.

"Yes old friend, it sure does." He said shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. Zetsu laughed for a moment. He had been the one to find them and get them out of that pickle. Of course he had been a mere kid and had been captured by some mercenaries.

He had picked the lock on his cell and was about to make a run for it when he came across a guy in his early twenties and one that was more late twenties. He had picked their locks and let them out. He ran to the exit and motioned them on.

Pein had placed a hand on his shoulder and asked him what his plan was. "I am going to steal a ship." He had said with conviction. Pein had scoffed. "Do you even know how to fly one?" He asked skeptically. He had nodded his head at Pein and made a run for it.

Pein couldn't for the life of him tell you why he had followed the kid. But he and Kakuzu had and they had found themselves a pilot for their crew. Kisame had been sort of the same situation. He was a thief when they found him.

He was a hell of a pick pocket. He had robbed Kakuzu. Bad news there. Kakuzu had wanted to kill him and Pein had wanted to see what skills he might have possessed. Once they found out he could fix a ship with his eyes closed and his hands tied behind his back it was a no brainer.

They had found a mechanic and a great friend in him. He was loyal and he was fierce in protection mode. He was a hell of a mechanic and he could hold his own in any situation. He would still occasionally steal if he had too, but only on Pein's orders.

That is how the crew had come about. Pein wasn't really surprised to find the four of them in this situation. However there were others to consider in this. The four crew members had wisdom and knowledge where the others were still wet behind the ears.

Pein was trying to come up with a plan when he heard what sounded like a hissing sound. He listened close as the hissing turned to a sizzle and then a loud exploding sound. Now his ears were ringing. He frowned for a moment as he seen Deidara slip passed his cell.

Deidara went to end of the tunnel and then came back to the cell. "I am going to try to get on our ship. If I can get more explosives I might be able to get you guys out of here." He watched Pein's face expectantly. Pein nodded. "Don't get caught." He said.

Deidara nodded and took off down the tunnel once more. Sasori laid his head against the stone wall. What the hell was that blond thinking? He shook his head and then couldn't help but smile. He admired the blonde's determination.

Deidara crept down the tunnel to the entrance. He could see their ship from here and he could also see lizard guys everywhere. He thought for a moment. The walls were shadowed along the edge. So all he had to do was stay in the shadows.

"What do you think they will do to our ship?" Tobi asked Zetsu. He had his head against the wall as close to the front of the cell as he could get. Somehow it didn't feel as lonely. "I don't know Tobi. Let's hope we get out of here before they do anything." He said.

Tobi sighed and smiled. Zetsu was able to calm his nerves no matter what. A voice came from down the row of cells. "Did I hear you say you have a ship?" It was a female voice and the only female was Konan and they knew what she sounded like.

"Yes, indeed we do. Who are you, may I ask?" Pein called back. He was surprised to find that a female was here at all. "I am Temari. I am human like I hope you guys are." She called back.

"Yes we are human. How did you get here?" Pein asked. There was a slight laugh.

"I was on a ship that was looking for new planets to terraform. I am a scientist. My research team and I came to this nebula and were captured. The rest of my team is dead. I am the only one left." She said sounding wistful.

"That is awful. I am sorry." Pein said. "How long ago was that?"

"Almost two years now I think." She said thoughtfully.

The younger crew members gasped. "If you get out of here could I come with you?" She asked, her voice was full of hope.

"Sure, why not? If we get out of here that is." Pein said.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." She said. They could all hear the tears in her voice as she spoke.


	13. Chapter 12

Search for Salvation Ch 12

Deidara slipped along the walls. He had been lucky so far. He was about 150 yards from the ship. He was so close he could almost taste it. He crouched down to the floor as a lizard guy looked his way. He didn't need to get caught and killed. He was needed.

He slid behind one of the creatures ships and moved along it. He went to take a step out to get back to the wall and almost ran into the back of one of the lizards. He jumped back and stepped around the ship. As he did he stepped on the end of the lizard's tail.

The creature turned around to look at what had crushed his tail. He looked at the floor and where his tail lay. A big box of tools lay on it's side and tools were scattered. He figured it had to have been that and turned back around.

Deidara sighed in relief, but he still had to get passed him to the wall. He slipped behind him once more. Making sure to not step on the creatures tail he moved inch by slow inch to the wall. He stepped again and pressed himself up to the wall.

The lizard creature turned his head and looked right at him. He began walking towards him and then all of a sudden he turned and left just as he was about to reach Deidara. Deidara sweat dropped as he began to breathe normal. He hadn't known he was holding his breath in so long.

He slipped along the wall for a while getting closer and closer to the ship. He was almost to it now and he made a quick decision to run to the door and open it as quietly as possible. He pulled it open a fraction at a time. He was so close.

When the door was open enough for him to slip back inside he pulled the door closed ever so quietly. He gave a sigh of relief as he headed into the ship to find his and Sasori's bombs. He took his back pack and loaded them into it.

He grabbed a lighter and put it in his pocket. He double checked to make sure he had enough and the right ones. Now he had to get back to the others. He moved to the door and was about to open it when he heard the handle being pulled.

He turned and ran to a compartment in the cargo hold. It was a smugglers compartment. He slid the panel away and crawled inside. He pulled the panel back as the lizards swarmed the ship. They looked around the ship and gave a disgusted grunt.

They began splitting up and searching the ship. For what Deidara didn't know but he hoped they would leave soon. They all made their way upstairs to the main chambers of the ship. Deidara took this opportunity to get the hell out of dodge.

He slipped the door open and jumped to the ground. He slipped back to the wall and made his descent to the prisoners' chamber. He reached the tunnel as a lizard went into it. He stepped against the wall and only hoped he wouldn't be found.

The lizard thing went down the rows of cells and checked each one. He stopped at the cell Deidara had been in. He looked at the rock where the hinges had been blown out and the prisoner had escaped. Deidara was now behind the creature.

He placed a bomb carefully in the back of the lizards robe. He lit the fuse and stepped behind a wall. The fuse hissed and then began to sizzle. It exploded and took the lizards head off. The body fell to the ground as green blood ran from the corpse.

Deidara looked around and no one seemed to have heard the explosion. He stepped into the corridor again and began placing bombs along the hinges of all of the cells. He lit them as he went and once he was done he squatted to the ground and covered his head.

All the crew pulled back to the back of their cells covering their heads from flying debris. The bombs went off one by one blowing rock and dirt and bits of weak metal to smithereens. They all crawled out of their cells and began to leave the tunnel.

"Wait, we have one more." Pein said.

"One more?" Deidara asked. Pein nodded and took him further down the tunnel to a cell. Inside was a blond woman. She wore dirty rags as clothes and her face would have been very pretty if her hair and her face weren't so dirty. She smiled gratefully at them.

"Move back." Deidara said as he set the bomb. The bomb hissed and sizzled and then exploded. The gate fell open and she rushed forward and threw her arms around Pein and Deidara's necks. She turned towards the rest of the crew and began walking towards them.

They all looked her over, decided she was alright and welcomed her to the group. Deidara rushed ahead and stopped anyone from walking out of the tunnel just yet. He reached around the corner and pulled a duffel bag into the tunnel.

Everyone looked at him in confusion. He opened it up and began pulling out A-K47's and passing them around. Kakuzu smiled at Hidan as the blond finished arming them. Kisame, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan and Pein were all armed with rifles.

Tobi, Itachi, and Sasori were armed with explosives to set up at different locations. Konan, Naruto, Sasuke and Temari were all handed pistols. Up close they would do serious damage far away they would just buy them some time.

They stepped out of the tunnel ready to wage war, get their ship back and get the hell out of this god forsaken planet. Pein took the lead and everyone followed his hand signals to the letter. He motioned them forward and the attack began.


	14. Chapter 13

Search for Salvation Ch 13

Kakuzu, Hidan, Pein, Kisame and Zetsu began firing on the lizard creatures. Itachi, Deidara, Sasori and Tobi began making their way to various locations to place the bombs. Temari, Konan, Naruto and Sasuke began firing at the Lizard creatures legs.

If they injured them enough then they would be slow in catching them. Pein cut down four of the lizard creatures and moved out of the way so Kakuzu could cut down the next few. Kakuzu pulled back to reload as Hidan stepped forward.

It was a great tactic as it worked like a charm. The one thing they didn't count on was that the lizard things shed their skin and were reborn. They were slow and couldn't fight as well at first as they basically regenerated. Now they had to get to the ship and hope for a miracle.

Pein, Kisame and Kakuzu lead the way as they cut down as many as possible in their path to the ship. Hidan and Zetsu covered their backs. Temari and Konan went to cover the boys with the explosives as did Naruto and Sasuke. So far the plan was working.

Pein got to the ship first. He opened the door and came back to the front of the ship so he could get his crew back on board. Kakuzu and Kisame kept the bullets coming as Zetsu reached the ship and climbed up inside. He began the prep to get the ship out of their as soon as they were all inside.

Itachi and Tobi finished placing the bombs. They were set with a remote detonator so when they got clear they could go off. Deidara and Sasori finished placing theirs and began making their way towards the ship. Hidan kept moving closer to them to keep the lizard creatures off of them.

Tobi made it to Hidan and rushed passed him to the ship. Naruto and Sasuke moved in behind Itachi to protect him if they could. Konan and Temari kept Deidara and Sasori covered as they moved closer to the ship. Deidara and Sasori reached the ship and rushed inside.

Pein called Kakuzu to get Konan and Temari on the ship. He nodded and grabbed the girls rushing them onto the ship. Hidan still stayed out in the middle of the opening to keep Itachi and Naruto and Sasuke safe as a Lizard knocked Naruto to the ground.

The gun flew from his hands as the lizard tried to skewer him with his claws. Sasuke turned and fired on the lizard trying to bring it down. With one clear shot he caught the lizard thing in the eye and was distracted as Sasuke grabbed Naruto and hauled him to his feet towards the ship.

While Sasuke had been busy saving Naruto however a lizard grabbed Itachi and threw him into a group of lizards. They all seemed to look at Itachi as though he were food. That is when it dawned on them that that was why they had been captured. The Lizards ate people or other species.

Kisame looked with wide eyes as they began swiping at Itachi. "No, Itachi!!!!" He screamed as he ran forward bullets flying. He took out the one who had thrown him and Kakuzu and Pein were now taking down the few trying to come towards them.

Kisame remained focused on the ones around Itachi. Now there were only three and one of them swiped again and caught Itachi's arm. It began to bleed immediately. Kisame could see the blood lust in the lizard's eyes as they were getting ready to swoop on him.

Kisame opened fire and took them down in a blaze of bullets. They fell to the ground and began to ooze green blood everywhere. Kisame rushed to Itachi's side and pulled him up to his feet and wrapped a protective arm around him. He rushed towards the ship with the injured Uchiha.

Pein rushed them into the ship and called Kakuzu and Hidan back. Naruto and Sasuke boarded the ship and Pein jumped in and shut the door. Zetsu had the ship ready to go and took off at Pein's command. They flew back down the tunnel from which they came.

They were almost to the exit when Pein ordered Deidara to blow it. With a wicked smile the blonde pressed the detonator button and the explosions began going off in eight set locations. The blast shook the cave and began a cave in as they reached the exit.

One last bomb needed to be set to blow the door. Deidara climbed out on top of the ship and set the bomb on the hatch door. He set the detonator and climbed back in the ship. Rocks and dirt and dust filled the tunnel threatening to swallow them.

He pressed the button and blew the hatch door open. Zetsu used every skill he had to fly the ship out of the debris and into open sky. He pressed the throttle to full power and they headed for the black once more. None of them could be happier.

They reached the black and welcomed the stars as they flew away from the planet. Everyone sighed in relief only to finally get a good look at the ship. The lizards had ransacked it and made a hell of a mess. At least it gave them something to do.

Sasori bandaged Itachi's arm and gave him a shot for the pain. He thanked Sasori and left the infirmary. At least the Infirmary wasn't destroyed. Itachi walked out into the hall just outside the infirmary and saw Kisame standing there waiting for him.

"Hey, why did you wait for me?" Itachi asked. Kisame blushed a little and looked at the floor.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Kisame said lightly. He smiled softly at Itachi. He only hoped that Itachi didn't know just how much he had been falling for the Uchiha. He wanted to remain impartial. The human race depended on it.


	15. Chapter 14

Search for Salvation Ch 14

The ship was quiet except for the whir of the engine as it kept them gliding through space. It had been two days since the capture on the Black planet as they called it. Temari had adjusted well to the ship and the people.

Often they would hear her scream in her sleep. Often she called out a name. No one asked who the person was but everyone wondered. If she wanted them to know she would tell them it seemed. She otherwise was pretty normal.

She often stared off into the nothing lost in her own thoughts. After a long hot shower and borrowed clothes from Konan she was a very beautiful woman. Konan had cut her hair for her to get rid of the ragged ends.

At this moment she was curled up in a chair in the lounge dozing. She had been reading a book and had slipped into sleep. They figured the dreams and the name that haunted her was making her lose a lot of sleep.

Konan was passing through the lounge quietly when out of the blue Temari once again shouted the name and came awake with a start. Shikamaru was the name she seemed to call out endlessly. Konan rushed to her side to calm her once more.

"Temari, may I ask you who Shikamaru is?" She asked nervously. She didn't want to upset the poor girl but she wanted so bad to know why this person was the cause of her nightmares. Temari smiled softly as she thought about it.

"He is my husband." She said with a beaming smile. The smile slipped away as sadness once more covered her features. Konan smiled at Temari.

"What is he like?" Konan asked. All sorts of interest creeping in. Temari laughed a genuine laugh. She waved her hand in the air as she spoke.

"He is the smartest man I know and yet the laziest. He is sweet and charming but not the romantic type. He thinks everything is a drag." She laughed again as she pictured him standing there telling her that as he had so many times.

"Konan giggled. She laid her chin on her hands as she listened to Temari recount the times she had had with him. He was even late for their wedding because he felt like it was too much of a drag to get there on time.

She listened intently and could see the love pouring from the blonde woman as she spoke of him. "We have a child, you know?" Temari whispered. Konan's eyes widened a child was unheard of.

"How old is your child?" Konan asked. Temari once again beamed.

"He would be four right now." She said with pride. Konan gasped and Temari looked at her with questioning eyes. Konan too looked at Temari much the same way.

"The plague has made it impossible to have children. The chemicals on the planet and the plague combined kill and make woman infertile." Konan said. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What plague?" Temari asked. Konan was now really confused.

"The plague on Sezza, Obua and Mecca." Konan said. Temari was sitting there lost as Konan told her about it.

"The plague is older than the time you have been gone from whichever of the three planets you came from." Konan said.

Temari shook her head. "I am not from any of those. I am from Deveron." Temari said.

Konan looked at Temari with renewed shock. "You are from another planet that has been terraformed?" Konan asked.

Temari nodded and frowned. "How is it that you don't know anything about my planet and yet I know nothing of yours?" Temari asked. Konan shrugged and shook her head.

"I'm not sure but it is odd that we never knew of it." Konan stated. "Where is Deveron from here?" Konan asked. Temari thought hard it had been two years and her memory was a little shaky.

"We traveled for five months to get to this nebula. I am not quite sure of the coordinates but I have been trying to remember them. I believe we are headed in the right direction though." She said with a sigh.

"Are you not wanting to go home?" Konan asked. Temari looked up startled by the question.

"Of course I want to go home, it is just that I wonder if Shikamaru is with someone or if he is waiting to see if I come back. I am sure after two years he believes me to be dead. I just don't know what I will do if I ever see him again." She said wistfully.

Konan placed her hand over Temari's and gave her a light squeeze. Temari squeezed back.

Konan wandered into Pein's office. She relayed to him what Temari had said. He jumped up and grabbed a map of the nebula's he scanned the map and found nothing close but he was sure that they had to be in the nebula next to the one she talked about judging by distance.

He walked into the bridge and talked to Zetsu who immediately began using the radar sensors to pick up anything. Nothing showed so it was going to be a guessing game until they closed in on something.

At dinner that night the crew talked about the possibility of a planet with humans and no plague. They at least now had a goal and they could only hope that they didn't come across any trouble along the way.


	16. Chapter 15

Search for Salvation Ch 15

Zetsu had scanned the area for a week. S far nothing showed up on the radar. He changed the direction of the sensors every couple of hours. Tobi sat in the co pilot seat not paying any attention to the flying or anything ship related. His mind was on Zetsu.

He liked the man. He really, really liked the man. He was infatuated with the man. He was intrigued by the man. He had a massive heart pounding mind boggling crush on the man. He was head over heels and consumed with excitement for the man.

He looked down in sorrow. He knew that Zetsu would never ever make a move on him. For one he didn't know if Zetsu was gay or even bi but he knew that they all thought the same thing on this ship. Mankind depended on them being with women to repopulate.

But now with the possibility of a planet with people and no plague it meant that that no longer applied. He got up and went to leave the bridge. Before he did he turned to Zetsu and pulled the older mans face up to his. He met his lips in a slow soft kiss.

He pulled back and walked out of the bridge leaving Zetsu to sit wide eyed and slightly turned on. Tobi walked to his room. He hadn't really slept in it since he had been helping Zetsu fly the ship. He sat on the bed and sighed with a heavy heart.

Zetsu put the ship on autopilot and went in search of Tobi.

Sasuke kissed Naruto again. He couldn't say how this had happened. One second he was showing Naruto how to make an omelet and then they were kissing. Naruto had grabbed Sasuke's hips and moved closer to the raven haired boy. Both of them moaned.

Sasuke stepped back slightly. "Wait, wait Naruto. We can't do this." Sasuke panted. Naruto looked down in shame. He knew Sasuke was right but it felt so good and it felt like it was meant to be. He nodded and got up to leave the room. Sasuke turned away.

Naruto went to his own room and threw himself onto his bed. Hot heavy tears began pouring from his eyes. He was so embarrassed and so ashamed and yet so confused as to why it was wrong. He bawled until he felt himself run out of tears and energy.

He slept hard and restless as the memory of Sasuke's kiss haunted him in his dreams. He was so tired and yet he was so alive with excitement as the kiss played on in his head over and over.

Kakuzu sat looking at the silver haired teenager. Lately he had been having some impure thoughts about the boy. He wanted so badly to pick him up and take him to his room and just make love to him forever. He was so pulled in by the boys' lust for destruction.

Hidan looked up to catch Kakuzu looking at him again with that same look on his face he had been seeing lately. He too had been having some wild thoughts about the older man's sex skills. He wondered how he would be in bed.

Their eyes met for a brief moment as their thoughts betrayed them. They both looked away embarrassed. Kakuzu shook his head to shake the thoughts only to get a glimpse of Hidan's bare torso as he reached for something.

In the next moment Kakuzu's hands were up Hidan's shirt and Hidan was leaning into the other man as close as possible. Kakuzu pulled the smaller teen onto his lap and kissed him passionately. Hidan surrendered his body his lips and his soul in that moment.

Kisame panted as he and Itachi made love. How and why were not of question. When was the question. All Kisame could remember was he and Itachi in the engine room checking the couplings again. Itachi had handed Kisame a tool and then…….

It all seemed like a blur. Itachi had walked around the engine and stood next to Kisame and then Kisame had stood up to be over Itachi. Itachi had reached out as Kisame had reached down. They had come together in a desperate kiss.

Kisame swept Itachi off of his feet and carried him to his room much as Kakuzu had wanted to do to Hidan. He had laid the Uchiha on the bed and within seconds they were both naked and coupling. Itachi moaned as Kisame groaned.

The end was pure bliss as they reached the same high. They rolled towards each other and slept. While in another room down the hall two more boys were reaching that same peak.

Sasori and Deidara had been working on the bombs and trying to get passed a faulty fuse problem. Deidara had set the fuse and detonated it by remote. It hadn't gone off until a minute later. He had done this a million times and now they had a problem with them.

They had argued about whether or not it was Sasori sculptures or Deidara fuses. Deidara had insisted his fuses were perfect. Sasori had also insisted that his sculptures were perfect. Deidara had reached out and slapped Sasori across the cheek much like a bitch.

Sasori had reached out and grabbed Deidara's arm and yanked him to him to give him the punishment he deserved. However kissing the blond hadn't been his intention. Nor was the tearing each others clothes off. The sex part was a total misconception of what he had in mind.

Yet here they were laying in a sweaty heap and both gasping for air. They were facing each other, both of their faces flushed from the heat of the moment. This was going to be awkward afterwards.

Pein sat at his desk with Konan facing him. She straddled his lap as he ran his hands over her body. She kissed him fervently and ran her hands over his chest. He moaned and ground them together again as she bit into his neck.

Temari wandered the ship. She was certain that she seen Zetsu come this way. She stopped at the sound of voices. She could hear a gasp and a moan as someone called out a name.

She listened closer and it became clear. Tobi and Zetsu were together and they were mating to put it nicely. She rushed down the hall and into the kitchen to find that it was empty. She left to go look for the captain.

Upon entrance to the office it was clear she was in the wrong place. She went to the cargo bay only to find Hidan and Kakuzu half naked. She turned to go to the engine room in hopes of finding Kisame.

What she found was scattered clothing and nothing else. She was beginning to see a pattern. She decided to go to the bridge. She walked onto the bridge and checked the readouts. She found exactly what she had been looking for. They had entered a field of neuromites. It altered ones thoughts and brought out ones true feelings. This was bad.


	17. Chapter 16

Search for Salvation Ch 16

Three hours later the cloud had passed. The neuromites had gone with only a trace of the euphoric feeling left. The entire ship was in slumber from their previous activities. Temari however sat at the controls on the bridge dozing while she waited for the crew to surface.

Pein was the first to come to. He sat up on the office floor and looked around. His eyes fell on Konan as her exposed skin caught his eye. A million and one reactions went through him. Shock, fear, anger, shame, glee, hate, and even sadness.

What in the hell had he done? He had done something shameful with a 16 year old girl. He was 27 and should have known better. How had he ended up in this situation? He stood up and grabbed his clothing and exited the room as quietly as possible.

Kakuzu came to his arms wrapped around the silver haired teen. They lay naked under a canvas tarp in each others arms. Kakuzu could barely remember how this had even happened but not the why. He now felt as though he had done an awful deed.

As carefully as he could he slipped out from beneath the teen and the tarp and rapidly dressed. He fled the cargo bay and went to find Pein. Zetsu had also began to awaken. He let his eyes flutter shut a couple of more times and then forced them open.

He could feel someone's breath on his shoulder and looked down to find Tobi sleeping naked and warm beside him. His heart leapt into his throat. What in the hell had happened? He could only recall the kiss Tobi had given him and going to find him.

This was not going to end well. He could already tell things were going to get messy. Tobi was of age and that was a plus, but the fact still remained that Zetsu had done something selfish. He was nothing but a selfish bastard without respect for the human race.

Tobi stirred next to him and rolled over onto his other side. Zetsu sighed with relief. He slid from the bed and dressed as quickly as his shaky hands would allow. He left the room in search of Pein.

Kisame stood staring at Itachi sleeping peacefully in his bed. He tried but for the life of him he couldn't really recall the details. A moan or a name every once in a while came to memory or he would have thought this was some odd dream.

He finished dressing and left to find Pein. He was in over his head and now he was going to have to live with what he had done. Itachi was a teenager still. 17 yes but a teenager. Kisame was 24 and he felt he had damaged something precious.

Pein sat at the kitchen table. Kakuzu too sat across from Pein. Zetsu and Kisame had arrived and by the looks on all of their faces they had all screwed up royally. They sat in silence as they all tried to come up with the right thing to say.

Sasori was now sitting on the end of the bed with his head in his hands. He had really done it this time. He had done some stupid things but this was just beyond. He was an adult and Deidara was still a child. Sure he was barely 16 but still too young.

Sasori stood and gave the blonde a sad look as he left the room. He went to find something anything to do to keep from doing something insanely stupid. He found himself in the kitchen and almost left when Kisame motioned for him to join them.

"You look as bad as we feel." Kisame stated. Sasori slumped against the table.

"I think I may have sold my soul to the devil." Sasori said in a depressing tone.

Kakuzu laughed almost gruffly. "Join the club."

Pein rubbed his temples as he nodded to Sasori. "You and Deidara are at least close in age." He said with a shrug.

Now it was Sasori's turn to laugh. "I am 32, Pein." The whole table looked at Sasori in open mouthed surprise.

"You are the oldest one on this ship." Kakuzu stated in disbelief.

Sasori groaned. Great he was more of a pedophile then the rest.

Temari then entered the kitchen. She looked at the guys with a soft sadness. She knew what was going through their minds. She had been a victim once herself. Being the scientist that she is though she researched it to get answers.

"Hi, guys. I would like to explain why it happened if you guys are up to it." She said softly. They all looked at her in interest. They motioned for her to sit down and just as she was about to start talking the rest of the crew made an appearance.

Shy looks and dodgy glances went around the room along with some accusatory glares as each and everyone acknowledged what had transpired. Oh boy this was going to get very uncomfortable. The whole crew groaned as they all realized this fact.


	18. Chapter 17

Search for Salvation Ch 17

To say that things were awkward was an understatement. Three days had passed with everyone being on edge. No one knew what to say to each other. Sure others talked to each other or to Temari but not to their perspective roll between the sheets partners.

When ever a couple would walk into the room with each other one or the other would turn and leave. Temari wanted to help but she didn't think anything she said would make a difference right now. They all needed to work out the kinks themselves. IF they ever would.

Tobi walked into the bridge. He sat in his seat as Zetsu flew the ship. He looked over at the man next to him and a blush crept up on him again as the image of him and Zetsu naked and fucking came to him. It had been the best experience of his life yet Zetsu seemed to take it differently.

Tobi looked down sadly. He wanted so bad to tell Zetsu that he had loved it and that he felt he was falling for him. Zetsu just seemed hell bent on not hearing it. Tears began to run down Tobi's cheeks as he stared at the console. Zetsu's heart shattered.

Putting the ship on autopilot he turned to Tobi. Tobi looked so miserable that Zetsu felt he wanted to cry too. "Tobi, come here please." Zetsu asked softly. Tobi looked away but got up and moved closer to Zetsu. Zetsu grabbed him and pulled him onto his lap and into his arms.

Tobi turned and hid his face in Zetsu's shoulder. Zetsu rubbed Tobi's back and held him tightly. "I am so sorry, Tobi. I never meant for that to happen. I hope you will forgive me for it." Zetsu said with a catch in his voice. Tobi looked at Zetsu with a frown.

"Forgive you? Why would I forgive you?" Tobi asked. Zetsu looked as though he had been stabbed through the heart. "I guess it would be unforgivable." Zetsu said. Tobi frowned even more. "No Zetsu, Why would I forgive you when I loved it?" Tobi asked.

Zetsu's eyes widened. "You…..you loved it?" He asked incredulously. Tobi smiled a small smile and nodded. Zetsu sighed in relief as he took the words in. Then another realization took over. "Tobi, you know that we can't be together, right?" He asked.

Tobi lowered his head in sorrow. "I don't understand why." He said quietly. "The population of mankind is depending on the ones of us who are left. We have two females and eleven males. It would be suicide to be together when we are all that stands between existence and extinction." Zetsu said a bit flustered.

Tobi pouted. "If we find Temari's home planet then we don't have to worry about it. There is a whole other civilization of humans." Tobi said. Zetsu nodded and hugged Tobi. "But what if we don't find her planet and the only thing we can do is try to repopulate with the two females we have?" Zetsu asked.

Tobi grimaced. He hadn't actually given that any thought. "Zetsu, I don't want to repopulate with a female. I want to be with you. Find a clinic and I will give up my sperm but I am not having sex with a female." Tobi said sternly. Zetsu couldn't help it. He giggled.

"Okay, so sex is out of the question with a female. **Even if it is to save our species**." Zetsu's split personality spoke. Tobi looked at Zetsu curiously. It didn't happen often but once in a while Zetsu's alter ego would pop up. Zetsu seemed to just ignore himself.

Tobi giggled and hugged Zetsu back. Zetsu rubbed Tobi's back a little longer before Tobi kissed Zetsu's lips. Zetsu fell head over heels into it. He deepened the kiss and Tobi arched closer. Zetsu almost gave in completely until his earlier words came back to him.

He pulled away and pushed Tobi up off of his lap. "Tobi we can't. It isn't right." He said huskily. "Don't you want me?" Tobi asked. "Yes I do Tobi, a little too much." Zetsu said. He took the ship off autopilot to distract him self.

Tobi smiled. "Then I am not giving up. I will make you change your mind and then we will be together." He said leaving the bridge to have the last word. Zetsu watched as Tobi left the bridge. "I wouldn't want it any other way Tobi." Zetsu said to himself.

"Deidara we need to talk." Sasori said. Deidara looked up from the clay bomb he was making and nodded. His heart sank into his chest and he felt queasy. Sasori sat down at the table and put his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

"Look what happened between us was a mishap. Sometimes these things just happen and all we can do is move on. It was just an error on our parts and we can't take it back so let's just forget it happened okay?" Sasori asked.

Deidara looked at Sasori and glared. He jumped up punched Sasori in the jaw and took off out of the area. Sasori grabbed his jaw and blinked in confusion a few times. "Was it something I said?" He yelled after the blonde. No answer came just as he thought.

Kisame lay in his hammock, his mind reeling from the 'incident' that is how he had begun looking at it. Itachi was attractive and definitely worth the effort and the time but he felt horrible for what had transpired between them.

Itachi checked the gauges again and moved the levers accordingly. He hadn't been able to sleep, sit still, eat much or think straight since the 'moment' as he preferred to think of it. He couldn't do this anymore he was losing his mind.

He turned around and walked over to Kisame. He leaned down and kissed him full on the mouth desperately. Kisame reached out and grabbed the weasel pulling him down into his hammock with him. Itachi wove his arms around Kisame's neck.

Any feelings of regret slipped away from Kisame as he and Itachi kissed and pressed into each other. Clothes were shed once more as the act was repeated. Kisame pulled the blanket he used when it was chilly to cover them up as they made love a second time. This might be wrong but to them it felt right.

Kakuzu walked up to Hidan and took the gun he was cleaning out of his hands. He set it on the table and stood staring at the teen for a moment before he spoke. "I apologize for what happened between us. I am too old for you and I should have respected that age difference." He said. Hidan looked up at him and shrugged.

"Whatever you say." He said as he picked up the gun and began cleaning it again. Kakuzu rolled his eyes and walked away. He wasn't sure how to take the silver haired boys' attitude but at least he didn't cry or beg. Those are the two things Kakuzu hated the most.

Konan walked into Pein's office. She walked up to his desk and stopped. "Okay so you and I had sex under the influence of Neuromites. So what? Big deal! It happened it's over and neither of us is scarred by it. Let's move on so we can find Temari's planet without the drama." She said firmly. She turned and walked away.

Pein closed his eyes as his heart began to unravel. It might have been nothing to her but he had fallen in love. He could never forget nor could he let it go. He placed his head in his hands on his desk as a tear slipped out. He hated himself and her for making him feel like this.

Sasuke sat in the kitchen going over the same ingredients again. Naruto came into the kitchen too hungry to stay away. He plopped down on the bench and pouted. Sasuke looked up at him and smiled. "Knew you couldn't stay away for long." He got up and made Naruto some ramen.

Naruto scarffed the ramen and then sat quietly watching Sasuke clean up. He burst into tears and lay his head on the table pitifully. Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked over to sit next to him. "I am sorry, how many times do I have to tell you that?" Sasuke asked. Naruto sniffled and looked at Sasuke.

"I don't want an apology. I want you to love me." Naruto said through sniffles. Sasuke jumped and almost fell off the bench. Love? He barely knew him so how could he love someone he barely knew? He looked at Naruto and was about to say that when the look on Naruto's face made him shut up and hug the blonde.

"Listen, it's going to be okay. I care about you a lot. I am happy that you want me to….to….." "Love me" Naruto asked. "Yeah that. I will do my best to…..to….make you feel needed." Sasuke said stammering. Naruto of course took it that Sasuke said he loved him. Sasuke was now kicking himself for his poor choice of words or the lack there of.

Temari walked around the ship assessing the damage. Deidara was crying in the lounge. Hidan was cursing up a storm about useless words. Konan was acting as though nothing had happened. Pein looked as though someone had kicked his dog.

Kakuzu was going through the inventory….again. Kisame and Itachi had locked themselves in the engine room and sounds of two people connecting in a intimate way could be heard. Tobi walked around with a new confidence. Zetsu seemed to be happy about something.

Sasori had a god awful bruise and was bitching about unpredictable blondes. Sasuke looked like he had gone emo and Naruto looked like a kid in a candy store. It seemed that some things had been worked out and others had been made worse.


	19. Chapter 18

Search for Salvation Ch 18

The next day came with tension still filtering through the atmosphere. Sasori still had a bruise but it was lighter. Deidara had distanced himself from the red head and the crew. Sasori finally had decided it was time to fix or break this. He walked up to Deidara and grabbed his arm. He hauled him down the hall to his room and shoved the blonde inside.

Deidara turned a hateful glare on the red head. "Okay this ends here. Tell me what the hell is wrong with you before I beat it out of you." Sasori demanded, anger radiating off of his body. Deidara swallowed and then sat down onto the bed sobbing into his hands. Sasori rolled his eyes and sat next to him.

"Deidara talk to me now." Sasori said pulling Deidara against his shoulder. Deidara looked up with tears in his eyes at the red head. "It was my first time and you acted like it was no big deal, un. You made me feel cheap and easy like trash. You could have at least been a little nicer about it. I wanted to give it to someone I loved and someone who loved me and instead you used me and then threw me away like garbage." Deidara cried.

Sasori sat taking in the words. Now he understood why the blonde was so upset and now he felt like a complete asshole. He closed his eyes and thought of what he could say that would make the blonde feel better. "I am so sorry, Deidara. I had no idea you were a virgin and that you wasted it on me. I wish I could take it back and make this better but I don't have that kind of power." Sasori said unable to face the blonde.

Sasori stood up and walked to his door. "You have every right to hate me Deidara. I treated you badly and took something from you that you can't get back. I would continue to keep your distance from me. I will only let you down." Sasori turned and headed out the door and disappeared and now Deidara felt worse than before. He didn't want Sasori to stay away from him. He wanted to make Sasori fall in love with him like he had fallen for Sasori.

He rolled over and curled up into a ball and cried. His heart broke all over again and now he felt unfixable. Meanwhile Zetsu lay sleeping on the cot and Tobi flew the ship. He glanced down at the sleeping man and grinned. He was so in love with him that it hurt to be even this far away from him. He put the ship on Auto Pilot and moved to the cot.

He leaned down and kissed the sleeping man's lips. Zetsu moved his lips against Tobi's still in slumber. Tobi reached out and ran his hand under the blanket touching Zetsu's bare stomach, loving the feeling of his warm skin against his hands. Zetsu moaned against Tobi's lips. Tobi grinned wickedly.

He slipped his hand further down into the front of Zetsu's pants and brushed against him. Zetsu wiggled a little trying to get closer to the hand. Tobi pushed his hand down further over it and brushed lightly. Zetsu moaned again as Tobi finally broke their kiss. The need for air was now taking over. He kept his hand where it was and kept rubbing lightly.

Zetsu was excited it was very apparent in Tobi's hand. Tobi watched Zetsu's face as he continued his ministrations on him. Zetsu's eyes fluttered open and looked at Tobi in lust clouded Euphoria. Tobi smiled shyly at Zetsu but didn't release him. Zetsu however reached down and pulled Tobi's hand free with a groan.

Tobi pouted and lowered his head. Zetsu picked up Tobi's head and kissed his lips. He pulled Tobi onto the cot with him and continued to kiss the younger male. Tobi was all to eager to be with Zetsu on the cot with their lips pressing together. Zetsu ran his hands up Tobi's shirt. Tobi cried out when Zetsu tweaked a pink nub. Zetsu smiled devilishly at the raven haired teen.

They came back together in a passionate kiss and then the console radar went off. Both boys jumped from the beeping sound. They rushed to the console gauges and read the printouts. A planet was coming up and soon. Zetsu put his shirt back on and Tobi took the co-pilot seat. Zetsu took the ship off of Auto pilot and began maneuvering towards the planet.

Tobi picked p the radio and spoke over the intercom. "We are approaching a planet we should be there in about a half an hour." He hung up the radio and looked at Zetsu. Zetsu smiled at him and turned back to the controls. Kakuzu and Hidan were in the gunny bellies and were getting the guns ready in case it was a hostile planet.

Deidara was arming a few bombs to go off on remote detonator. Kisame and Itachi crawled out of the hammock and dressed quickly as they prepared the engine for a possible landing. Sasuke and Naruto went to the lounge to sit until they landed. Temari was at the main window watching for the planet. Konan was running from place to place making sure everyone was aware of the situation.

Pein sat in his office praying to any god that this was Temari's planet and that he could get the hell out of dodge and away from the sixteen year old girl who stole his heart and crushed it all too quickly. Sasori was preparing his sculptures to have bombs set in them as Deidara carried a few to him. Sasori took them and quickly rushed away from the blonde. Deidara was hurt but the situation made it difficult to do anything about it.

Konan stopped to take a breath and that was when the reality of the situation set in. She smiled bitterly. Now Pein would be able to find a woman his age to love and be with and she would have to forget about him and move on. How badly that stung. She was so in love with Pein that it was killing her to think that he would now get to be with someone else. Konan wanted to tear her to shreds whoever she may be.

She moved on to the office to let Pein know everyone was prepared for the possible landing. He nodded and eyed her for a moment. The thought that she would find boys her own age to be with made his stomach burn with contempt and jealousy. He looked away from her and closed his eyes as tears threatened to spill. She looked at the floor to keep him from seeing how much her heart was breaking and was shocked to find his arms around her.

She looked up to see him looking at her with tears on his cheeks. "You little blue haired vixen. I tried so hard to avoid falling for you and yet you managed to make me anyhow. I am old enough too know better and yet I don't care. I love you and I want you and I need you and it won't make a difference once we land. You will be with your own people and I will be moving on." He said sadly.

Konan smiled and threw her arms around his neck. He jumped back a little trying to figure out what was going on. She kissed his neck and his cheek and his ear and he moaned softly as he tried to pull her free.

"I love you too, Pein. I just thought you wouldn't want me because I am too young. I want to be with you. I want to be your girl and you to be my man and we don't have to worry about what anyone says or thinks." She said looking into his eyes as he tried to make heads or tails of the situation.

"We are landing." Zetsu said over the Intercom. Pein looked at Konan. "We can talk about this later." He said getting ready to leave. "No we can't. Once we leave this ship it is going to be forgotten and we need to talk about this now." Konan said. She held his arm and moved passed her anyway. She frowned and dropped into a chair.

The ship landed softly and everyone looked out the windows. Buildings from a city stood on the edge of a green grassy field. The ship was now sitting in the field and the cargo hatch was opened. Fresh air swept into the ship and everyone breathed in deeply. So far there was no sign of hostility from anywhere.

Everyone gathered in the cargo bay and began walking off the ship. The wind was warm and the sun was soothing. Everyone was lost in the beauty of it all. Kakuzu and Hidan had armed themselves regardless. With beauty usually comes evil. The grass smelled sweet and the air smelled pure. Pein called everyone together.

"Alright, all of you grab a weapon. Things may look good but we don't know weather we can trust it. Kakuzu, the Scrappler please?" Pein asked. Kakuzu smiled and walked inside to get the vehicle. A moment later it was on the grassy plain and ready to go. Pein took the seat next to Kakuzu and Hidan and Konan sat behind them. Temari took the seat with Konan and Kisame, Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto took the seats behind them.

Itachi sat on Kisame's lap while Naruto sat on Sasuke's. The Uchiha brother's eyed each other curiously as they sat in their out in the open predicament. Deidara, Sasori, Tobi and Zetsu took the seats behind them. Sasori sat behind Deidara and Zetsu sat in front of Tobi. Sasori stared out the window as Deidara watched Sasori sadly.

Tobi eyed Zetsu wondering what was going to happen on this planet. Zetsu turned to look at Tobi and smiled, he took Tobi's hand and gave it a squeeze. Tobi's heart soared. The Scrappler began moving and everyone began taking in the atmosphere around them. They headed to the cities edge hoping to find Salvation.


	20. Chapter 19

Search for Salvation Ch 19

What they found was nothing. The Scrappler moved slowly down the street and not a soul came to greet them. There were no children playing. There were no people walking along the sidewalks. The city was deserted. The deeper into the city they got the voider of life it became.

Temari looked around desperate to find something familiar. Yet nothing popped out at her. She took in the city and gave a silent sigh of relief that this wasn't her planet. "This is Oberon." Temari said. Everyone looked at her. "This isn't your planet?" Pein asked. She shook her head. "I am sure of it. This is the center of the city and my planet has a monument of our founder." Temari said.

Everyone, while disappointed that they hadn't found the planet were also relieved that this was not it. Pein thought that it would be safe to get out and explore the planet a little before heading back to the ship. The mystery of the peoples whereabouts was still in question.

They parked the Scrappler along the street and got out to check out the buildings in the area. Pein made groups of four to explore the buildings. There was always safety in numbers. He put Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori and Deidara together. He put Zetsu, Tobi, Konan and Temari together. Lastly he put Kisame, Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto together. He himself would accompany Zetsu, Tobi and the girls.

They set out in separate directions. Moving down the street, they began to enter buildings. Pein opened the door to the post office. He looked around taking in the room. Weapons drawn they moved further into the room. Pein walked up to the counter and rang the service bell. No noise came from anywhere in the building.

The room was tidy and kempt as he opened the door and entered the back. It was just as clean and organized as the rest. He entered the main room again and shook his head to the rest. All heads turned towards a room off the side. It was an office or something. Pein opened the door and sitting at a desk was a man who looked like he had mummified in his chair.

Pein closed the door and they all exited the post office. Konan looked like she might have thrown up if Temari hadn't handed her some water. She thanked her and took a drink of the bottle Temari had thought to bring along. Pein patted Konan on the back and gave her a sincere smile. She smiled back and they moved on.

Kisame, Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto entered the grocery store. It was a huge building and there were a lot of places to hide in the store. They drew their weapons and entered. They all moved down the isles keeping their ears and eyes open. They swept every isle and checked the bathrooms. They all emerged at the same time into the cooler section and what awaited them was a dozen or so employees inside the coolers.

They were all dead, having frozen to death over long term exposure to the cold. The question was did they put themselves in the cooler or did someone else put them in the coolers? Naruto began to scream as Sasuke did his best to calm him. Itachi turned his head and pressed his face into Kisame's shoulder. Kisame put his arm around his shoulder and looked at the floor.

They all turned and walked out of the store. They were grateful for the sunshine that awaited them outside. Naruto looked like he wanted to cry and Sasuke continued to rub his back. Naruto clung to Sasuke's arm as though he were his savior which in this case he may very well have been.

Kakuzu, Hidan, Sasori, and Deidara entered the bank. The lobby was empty and the Teller booths seemed the same. Kakuzu walked around to the other side of the counter. He walked up to the teller booths and stopped in his tracks. Three of the four teller booths were occupied by people who had crawled under the counter and curled up as if to hide and had died there in that position.

He held up his hand to stop the others from coming in although it was too late they had entered anyway. Deidara turned his head and jumped on Sasori. Sasori wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist. Partially to comfort him and partially to keep him from jumping on his gun.

Hidan stood looking at the tellers with a somewhat solemn way. He had seen death before but the fear etched in their faces was what got to him. Kakuzu ushered them out from behind the counter. Hidan went to open a door and Kakuzu grabbed his arm. "Are you sure you want to look?" He asked in concern.

"What if there is a survivor?" Hidan asked. Kakuzu nodded and Hidan opened the door to one of the offices. There was no sign of anyone and Kakuzu turned to leave. Hidan however entered further and looked under the desk. He grimaced and Kakuzu knew what he was seeing. Hidan walked out of the office passed Kakuzu and into the lobby. Kakuzu checked the next office and the next with the same results.

The next few buildings were the same. They were either abandoned or the people were dead looking mummified like all the rest. They all came together in the street in front of town hall. Deciding it was best to enter all together they walked in single file. The room was littered with newspapers and fliers and forms of all types. The door closed behind them and all heads turned to look at it.

Pein gave them all a look that said 'I closed the door. Don't panic.' Everyone relaxed and began shuffling through the papers on the floor. Konan was the one who gasped and drew everyone's attention. She was holding up a newspaper that was brand new still in the bundle as though it had been dropped off that morning.

Pein walked over and took it from her. "Look at the date." She whispered. He glanced at the copy date and his eyes widened. The paper was dated seventeen years earlier. He turned to Temari. "How did you know this was Oberon?" He asked. Temari smiled sadly. "My parents were from this planet. I was sent with a mining crew to Deveron. I was seven.

My parents came later to Deveron but were sent back to Oberon to help with the council. I have never been back here but I knew this was Oberon because of the coordinates. It is almost the same as my planets coordinates. They often said that this planet was mistaken for Deveron because of the similar coordinates." Temari explained.

Pein looked at the floor and sullenly held up the paper. "This paper is dated seventeen years ago. How old are you Temari?" He asked. She stood wide eyed. "I am twenty five." She said shakily. "When were your parents sent back here?" He asked. She sniffled a little. "When I turned eight." She said as the tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"You haven't seen your parents in seventeen years?" Tobi asked. She nodded. "I always wondered what happened to them and why they never came back." She turned to walk over to a bench. Konan went over and sat with her. Temari laid her head on Konan's shoulder as the guys rifled through more papers trying to figure out what might have transpired on this planet.

Itachi picked up a stack of letters and notes, he began going through them and all of them referred to the end of the world kind of gibberish. He found one that said "They are coming! Who will help us?" Itachi read a few more. A few more made references to the same thing and finally one of them named the "They" Cyphors. That is what they were called.

What Cyphors were though was the real question. Pein suggested they try to find out exactly what they were if any of them were still here. Of course they all thought he was crazy. "Let's hope it is a dead one. Okay?" He said as they all walked out the door. Back in the Scrappler they all tried to relax but the obvious obliteration of a planet was heavy on their minds.

Deidara sat on Sasori's lap locked around his neck refusing to budge. Sasori at the moment didn't quite care. He needed a little comfort himself. They moved through the city hoping to find answers. Just as they reached the edge of the city on the other side the carnage in the streets was almost unbearable.

People lay dead all over the streets and even a few that weren't quite men but something close. They had white faces, sharp pointed teeth and glassy blue eyes. A coil of some sort ran in through the back of their heads and down into their chest. Liquid that was of a green color oozed from the cylinders of their chests.

Pein looked the bodies over and came up with nothing that would cause people to turn into mummified corpses. Kakuzu began checking and testing out the weaponry on them. Sasori was taking samples of the ooze and blood or so it seemed like blood. It was a dark purple color that spilled from the wounds.

"I think we have all that we need to figure out what they were made of and how they operated. It might tell us what they were able to do to turn these people into mummified corpses." Sasori said. Kakuzu agreed. They took a few of the weapons from the corpses and climbed back into to the Scrappler. Heading back to the ship, everyone's minds were asking the same question. What happened on this planet and would Deveron be okay?


	21. Chapter 20

Search fro Salvation Ch 20

Once again they took to the black. All of them were feeling a little deterred but happy to be spending more time together on the ship. Konan cornered Pein in his office as he went over documents that he had taken from town hall. "We need to talk about us." She said.

"Konan, I think that what you are calling love is merely a crush that will wear off in a month or two and you will move on. You don't want someone my age to be your boyfriend. There are plenty of boys your age that are more suitable to you.

I was wrong to tell you my feelings and in time I will get passed them. I want you to get married and have babies and be with a ma who can give you all of the things I am unable to." He said looking at the papers and not at her.

"That is a bunch of bullshit. You are scared. You are the one who is afraid of what your friends will say or what people will think of you and you don't want to have to explain why you have a girlfriend so young. Well let me tell you something Pein. You are a coward. At this rate you will wind up miserable and alone." She stood and walked out of the office letting the door slam behind her.

He couldn't deny any of what she had said. Okay maybe part of it. He was a coward and he was afraid of what someone would say but not about him. He was worried about someone saying anything bad about Konan. He would maim or kill anyone who dare insult her. His feelings for her would never leave and he would forever end up alone.

Pein dropped his head onto his desk. He groaned loudly as Temari walked in. "Hello Temari, how are you?" He asked still laying on his desk. "I am fine. I was thinking it was you who wasn't." She said watching him as he rolled his head across the desk. A paper stuck to his forehead as he looked up at her the paper now hiding his face from view.

She walked over and pulled the paper free. "This is pathetic. If you love her be with her if you don't tell her you don't." Temari said. He groaned again and dropped his head back to the desk. "I told her I loved her and then I got cold feet and now I just want to jump out into the black and let it suck the life out of me." He said.

"You're being a little melodramatic don't you think? We love who we love and it shouldn't matter what someone thinks or says about it. Be happy while we can. Love is a precious thing to lose." Temari said wistfully. Pein looked up at her with a blank look.

"Men! We have to do everything for them or they are lost little boys." She said. She left the room and a moment later she came back with Konan. Pein looked at Konan in awe as she stood with her hands on her hips. He stood from his desk and walked over to her. He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her full on the lips.

He whispered in her ear about how sorry he was and how stupid he had been. They went back to their make out session and Temari slipped out the door to go find someone else's problem to fix. She had some couples in mind who needed a little push and not much more.

She was welcomed with the sight of Kakuzu and Hidan sitting across from each other and not speaking. They had made a work station table down in the cargo bay. They were now inspecting and cleaning guns and weapons found on Oberon.

"So have we learned anything about the weapons?" She asked trying to spark a conversation between the two males. Kakuzu stayed quiet as Hidan's eyes lit up with excitement. "Yeah these are some bad ass guns. They have a bunch of different functions on them too." Hidan said.

"Different functions?" Temari asked. Kakuzu was the one who spoke this time. "Yeah they have a function on here for throwing a plasma stream. A function on here for causing mild injury or… "Yeah and a tazer setting. It actually is very powerful. It is kick your ass knock you out bad." Hidan cut in excitedly.

Kakuzu nodded and Temari asked "what is this?" She pointed to a metal plate that had a whole clean through it. "That is another function on here. It blows a whole through steel. My guess is they use it to get into buildings with steel doors." Kakuzu said. Hidan nodded in agreement.

"Either way these are bad ass weapons." He repeated. Kakuzu looked at Hidan and smiled. He nodded at the boys' enthusiasm. Temari smiled and sat at the table. She began picking up little pieces of things laying on the table. Kakuzu leaned over and took them from her hands.

"That is part of this gun and it is full of plasma. It may be unstable and we don't all want to die." Hidan said. "Oh, my bad. Did you learn all of this from Kakuzu?" She asked. Hidan smiled. "Yeah most of it. Some of it I actually taught him. I was somewhat of a geek back home. I studied my science book inside out." He laughed.

Temari laughed too. Kakuzu laughed as well and nodded that Hidan was indeed a geek. Temari stood and walked away as the two males began talking about science and weapons. At least they were talking.

She disappeared and Hidan stopped what he was doing for a moment. "What is the matter?" Kakuzu asked. Hidan rolled his eyes and laughed. "Temari is a Scientist. She knew that thing was unstable. She was trying to get us to talk to each other." Hidan said.

Kakuzu smiled and shook his head. "This is why woman are evil." He said. "Amen to that." Hidan said. Kakuzu looked at Hidan for a moment and then down to his lips. He tried to look away but the Hidan just had to lick his bottom lip.

Kakuzu reached across the table and pulled Hidan's lips to his own. Hidan offered no resistance as he was pulled to Kakuzu's lips. He kissed back feverishly and his arms wove around the older male's neck. Kakuzu growled and broke the kiss. Hidan looked in confusion as the older male pulled away.

Kakuzu walked briskly around the table and once more took the smaller teen into his arms. Hidan smiled in pure happiness that Kakuzu hadn't been leaving just trying to get closer. Hidan pressed himself against the older male wanting so much more than a kiss. It seemed as though Kakuzu wanted the same thing.

Kakuzu picked up Hidan and carried him into one of the gunny ships. He closed the door and began undressing the younger male. Hidan was also trying to get rid of Kakuzu's clothes just as fast. They completed the task and Kakuzu pulled Hidan on top of him. They made slow easy love so they could live every detail of it without any confusion of how why and what next.

Temari now stood outside of the gunny ship listening to the sounds of her helpfulness. She smiled triumphantly as she went to find her next victems. Now where were that red head and the blonde?


	22. Chapter 21

Search for Salvation Ch 21

Temari had found that getting Deidara and Sasori to communicate wasn't as hard as she thought. When she located the duo they were deep in conversation about why or why not they should be together. Sasori was giving all the responsibly sound reasons and Deidara was shooting them all down. With Temari's planet as an option it seemed pointless to deny the feelings between them.

Sasori was an optimist though. He had done the calculating and found that if the age difference weren't bad enough that the differences between them would be. There was also the chance that Temari's planet might not be as she left it. A lot can change in two years. Deidara again shot down the possibilities of that. He was determined to make Sasori his own.

Temari left the two alone to hopefully straighten out their feelings. That was short lived as Zetsu came over the radio. "We are approaching another planet. It could be Temari's if the readings are right." Zetsu said. Pein and Kakuzu headed for the cockpit. They stood looking out the window at the planet that was fast arriving. Pein put his hand on Zetsu's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Nice work, Zetsu." He said and turned to go find the rest of the crew.

He called over the intercom for everyone to meet him in the lounge. Everyone obeyed and soon the room was full. "We are coming up on a planet as you may have heard. We will proceed with caution until we know what is what out there." Pein said. Everyone nodded and took a seat to buckle in for when they would be landing. Pein headed back to the bridge and watched as they entered the atmosphere.

Kisame and Itachi were quickly adjusting the engine to the speeds it had to go to make a soft landing. Itachi was on one side calling back readings to Kisame who was on the other side releasing air pressure to keep the compression coil from blowing. The engine groaned as Zetsu slowed the ship. Kisame kept his fingers crossed that she would stay together long enough to land.

The ship came into the gravitational pull and began it's descent toward the ground. Zetsu piloted until they got almost to the planets surface and then Tobi quickly jumped in helping Zetsu set her on the ground. They were out in what looked like a desert and they hoped they could stay undetected out here until they could see whether this was Temari's planet or not.

Zetsu cut the engine and she rolled slightly to a stop. Kisame sighed in relief and patted the metal conglomerate. He smiled at Itachi who gave him a smirk. Gathering in the lounge, everyone took turns asking questions. Sasuke and Naruto wanted to know if they were all getting off the ship. Pein told everyone they could get off as long as they stayed at the ship.

Kakuzu wanted to know what weapons they would be taking. Pein told him he thought the AK's would be best. Kakuzu of course was all too happy to take the big guns. Kisame asked if he could stay with the ship and do some repairs. Pein told him he may need him for his muscle and the repairs fell to Itachi. Hidan asked if he was going to get to go with them and Pein quickly shut him down saying only the five of them would be going.

Pein placed Konan in charge of the ship until they got back and Tobi in charge of flying should they not make it back. They stepped out into the air on the planet and breathed deeply. The planet was definitely habitable and it felt good to be out and about instead of in the black all the time. Itachi walked up to Kisame and nudged him with his elbow. He motioned Kisame around the back side of the ship. Kisame followed with a grin.

Itachi wrapped his arms around Kisame's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. "Come back to me, okay?" He said quietly. Kisame grinned and nodded as he kissed Itachi once more. He released him and they walked back to the front of the ship. Pein was talking to Konan in hushed whispers and Zetsu was rubbing Tobi's back. Sasori and Deidara stood off to the side and glanced sideways at each other.

"I think I should go with you. I am better able to fix a wound if I am with you." Sasori said. Pein thought for a moment. He nodded at Sasori who now had a panicked blonde clinging to his arm. "Are you crazy? You will get killed out there, un. It is too dangerous out there." Deidara said hurriedly. Sasori shook Deidara's hand off of his arm.

"I am old enough to make my own decisions, thank you." Sasori said hastily. Deidara looked down at the ground and pouted. "How old are you anyway?" He asked looking at Sasori in the eye. Sasori sighed and looked at the ground. Deidara had been bugging him to tell him for a while. "I am 32." He said quietly. Deidara gasped slightly. He looked at Sasori in a state of awe. "Danna looks so young, un." Deidara said.

Sasori turned about eight shades of red. "Danna? Where did that come from, brat?" Sasori asked trying to calm his blush. Deidara smiled widely. "You are 32 and yet you look like your maybe 20 and you are great with the whole medical thing and the sculptures you make are awesome, un. You are my Danna." Deidara beamed. Sasori blushed some more and turned to face out into the sky.

Pein rounded them up as Kakuzu released Hidan. He didn't care who seen or heard them. They walked back into the cargo bay and got into the Scrappler. It would work until they got close to civilization if there was any. Pein and Temari were up front while Zetsu and Kisame took the next seat and then Sasori and Kakuzu sat behind them. They were all armed and ready if need be.

The Scrappler pulled out of the cargo hold with everyone waving goodbye to the six crew members. They drove out onto the ground and continued on towards the human race if any existed that is. Itachi closed the cargo hold and wandered back to the engine room. He lay in Kisame's cot and sighed in loneliness. He was worried that things would go badly and the first guy he ever loved and slept with wouldn't come back to him.

Sasuke entered the engine room and looked at Itachi. "Hello Aniki. We haven't had much time to talk with all the chaos we have been through." Sasuke said. He sat on the floor and rubbed his finger through a grease spot. "Tell me about it. So what is up with you and that blonde boy?" Itachi asked with a smirk. Sasuke groaned. "I'm not sure. Ever since we encountered the neuromites and everyone did what they did, it has been strange.

I care about him but he wants me to love him. I don't know if I am really even gay or if it was just the neuromites. I am so confused now." Sasuke said dropping his head onto his knee with a thud. Itachi sighed. "Well beating your brains out on your knee won't give you anything but brain damage and a headache." He said. Sasuke looked at Itachi and was about to get testy and then laughed when he seen his brother's grin.

"So what about you and the blue guy? What is going on between you two?" Sasuke asked with a grin. Itachi smiled and blushed slightly. "I think I am in love with him. I can't stop thinking about him and when he isn't with me I feel depressed. It feels like the life has been sucked out of me." Itachi said with a frown. He looked at the floor and then to Sasuke who was grinning from ear to ear. "Wow those neuromites got you good, Aniki." Sasuke said.

Itachi scowled and then grinned he couldn't help it. He couldn't help thinking about the neuromites and what had happened between he and Kisame. He was even more grateful for the second time they did it. He smiled softly at the memory. He looked at Sasuke and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess they did and I am glad." Itachi said. Sasuke laughed at how Itachi looked in that moment. He was almost dreamy eyed and had a love sick expression.

Sasuke stood up and left the engine room but not before he turned back and smiled. "I am happy for you, Aniki." He said and left the room. Itachi looked at the now empty door way. 'Thanks, nii-san. So am I.' He murmured to himself. He let his mind drift to his and Kisame's love making hoping it would speed up the time for when Kisame would return.

Sasuke entered the kitchen to see Naruto making a mess. "What are you doing Naruto?" Sasuke asked in annoyance. Naruto turned his famous pout on Sasuke. "I'm hungry. I was trying to make something easy but it is all hard." He pouted even more. Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away from the pout. Naruto was slowly wrapping him around his finger.

"I will make you something, dobe." Sasuke said. Naruto smiled and then pouted again. Hey don't call me a dobe." He said grumpily. Sasuke shook his head and went back to making Naruto some food. Naruto sat down at the table to wait. He watched as Sasuke measured and stirred everything so perfectly graceful. Naruto wasn't graceful at all, hence the mess in the kitchen. He preferred Sasuke's cooking over anyone else' anyway.

Deidara and Tobi were sitting in the cockpit. It was funny how everyone had gotten Pein's permission to get off the ship and yet they were all holed up in the ship instead. It could only be because the semes had vacated the premises leaving everyone in a dour mood. Hidan lay on the table in the cargo hold. He had checked the rest of the weapons so many times that he could do it in his sleep.

Konan sat at Pein's desk going through papers and organizing things in an orderly fashion. One thing she noticed about the man is he had no sense of order. How he found anything was beyond her. She cleaned off the desk and sat trying to read the papers they had found on the planet the Cyphors had attacked. Her mind kept wandering and she finally gave up. A walk around outside of the ship would do wonders for her mind.

The Scrappler sat at the edge of a valley. Just on the other side was a city. The city was huge and loomed ahead of them like a beacon in the dark. They crouched down as they got closer to the cities edge. Barricades surrounded the perimeter of the city. Razor wire and electric fence reading High voltage blocked intruders from the outside. Using binoculars Pein looked as far as he could. Cyphors walked the streets and acted as a militia. The planet had been taken over.


	23. Chapter 22

Search for Salvation Ch 22

Pein cursed. He should have known that finding Temari's planet without any trouble would be impossible. Temari sat with tears in her eyes. Where were Shikamaru and their son? She caught a tear as it began to slide. She didn't come this far to give up now. She turned to Pein. "What is the plan?" She asked hopefully.

He bit his lip and thought for a moment. "We head back to the ship and figure out a way to take this planet back from the Cyphors." He said. Kakuzu nodded. He agreed that that was the best course of action for now. Zetsu put away the binoculars he was using. He had been looking for the easiest way to infiltrate the perimeter.

Sasori looked at the fence. It was a high voltage fence and it would kill anyone stupid enough to grab onto it. It was going to be tricky to get through that. Kisame too was staring at the fence. His mind was obviously working out some mechanical miracle. They crept back to the Scrappler and climbed in. They headed back to the ship and started gathering their weapons.

They boarded the ship a half hour later. The Ukes all came to see what they had to tell them. "This is indeed Temari's planet. The problem is it has been taken over by Cyphors. We now need to find a way to get in to the city and take it back." Pein said. All members stared blankly at him. The whole planet was most likely infested with them and they were supposed to take the planet back. That was no pressure at all.

Konan thought for a moment. She had been reading the paper on the Cyphor attack on the last planet and she was sure it mentioned something about their one major weakness. They all had some kind of cylinder in their chest that held some type of blue liquid. Kakuzu had said it was blood but mixed with something that they needed to keep them alive.

They obviously went from planet to planet looking for this stuff to harvest to save their race. She needed to know what it was. "I think I may know a way." She said absently. Pein looked at her in disbelief. Temari just looked hopeful again. The rest all looked at her like she had just said the funniest thing. She rolled her eyes and explained her thought.

It made sense. Whatever they wanted it was obviously here and they wanted to make sure that no one took it from them. Kakuzu thought for a moment and left to go to the lab. He went to the specimen he had taken. It didn't glow like it did inside of them. Right now it was flat blue gooey substance. Kakuzu moved it around in the specimen dish. He grabbed some sulfate and added a drop. It smoked a little as it touched it.

He rubbed his neck. What was it that made this stuff so special? He needed to figure out what it was used for. Hidan walked into the lab. He sat at the table and watched Kakuzu as he thought about it. He had taken enough samples to test it often but he wasn't sure how many times he could test it. He reached over and grabbed some glycerin he put a drop into the new specimen dish. The blue stuff flashed for second and then bubbled over like alka seltzer does in a glass.

He thought again about what he could put in the stuff. He reached over and grabbed a bottle of ammonia. He dropped a drop into the new dish. It exploded. He jumped practically out of his skin. Hidan was under the table taking cover as the stuff finally stopped splattering everywhere. Kakuzu wiped the specimen off of the walls and the cabinets and himself. At least it seemed harmless to the skin.

He could always make ammonia bombs. Or at least Deidara could. He scratched his head and thought. He reached over and grabbed a bottle of Dioxide. He dropped a drop into the new specimen dish. The specimen turned green and put off an awful odor like garbage mixed with animal dung. He waved the air and turned on the fan. This was getting mighty annoying.

Hidan had crawled back into his seat but was cautious and ready to take cover if anything should blow up again. His eyes watered and he was choking down the bile in his throat from the awful smell. Kakuzu thought for a moment. He grabbed a couple of medical masks and handed one to Hidan. They quickly put them on and set to trying another sample.

Fifteen tries later and there was still no luck. He had tried magnesium and nitrate. He had tried mixing a couple of the chemicals together and then adding them to the samples. There was no luck. Hidan leaned across the table to pick up a shard of a specimen dish and accidentally cut himself. He pulled his hand back and it happened to go over the new specimen that Kakuzu was about to try. A drop of blood hit the specimen.

It took only a second before the blue goo began to glow. Kakuzu stared at it in disbelief. Hidan looked confused. "Blood? How in the world can blood do that?" Hidan said. Kakuzu thought for a moment. It wasn't the blood but what the blood contained. "Hidan what is it that all blood contains?" He asked. Hidan thought for a second. "Iron. It has to be the iron.

Kakuzu took a new specimen dish and a bottle of iron dust. He sprinkled it into the specimen. The specimen glowed. It was Iron that they were after and it was Iron they had found. Kakuzu jumped to his feet to go find Pein. He found him in his office going over the papers again with Konan.

"It's Iron Pein. Iron is what they were looking for and obviously found on this planet. They have to be mining it. I haven't put together yet what the blue stuff is exactly but they can't live without it. I think they have found a way to turn the iron into this blue stuff and mix it with their blood. I think that their blood doesn't contain enough iron for them to survive without it." Kakuzu explained.

Pein nodded. "It makes sense. But the blue stuff. If it is Iron it has to be something that they mix the iron with. I think that if they were to inject the iron straight into them it would overdose them and kill them." He said. Kakuzu nodded. "I would like to get my hands on a live one and test my theory on how they die." He said menacingly. Pein shuddered. Kakuzu always had a way with words.

Pein went looking for Temari. He found her in the kitchen with Naruto and Sasuke. They were talking about her planet before the Cyphors took over. "Temari, is there some sort of Iron mine or something like that on this planet?" He asked. She looked at him in shock. "There is an Iron ore that runs along some underground caves through this very city." She said with a frown. "Do I dare ask why you wanted to know?" She asked nervously.

He nodded in confirmation that it was bad. "It is what they are here for. The Cyphors need the Iron to survive." Pein said. She groaned. "So what can we do?" She looked at him expectantly. Pein sighed. "We find a way to cut of the iron supply and take back this city and then the next one and the next one." He said. She smiled. She believed that this crew could somehow do just that.


	24. Chapter 23

Search for Salvation Ch 23

Pein gathered everyone in the lounge. He laid out the situation to them. The biggest problem they faced was the high voltage fence that surrounded the perimeter. They needed to turn the power off somehow but needed to do it without any knowledge that it had been done. Everyone put their brains to work trying to figure out how to get passed the fence. Kakuzu went through several scenarios only to come to the conclusion it wouldn't work.

Everything he came up with involved shorting the fence out with sparks and sizzling. That would definitely draw the Cyphors attention. Kisame was working on a solution in his head as was Itachi. If working in the engine room had taught either of them anything it was how to outskirt technology and make it work. Itachi jumped up almost the same time Kisame did. "AN EMP DEVICE!" They both said in unison.

The crew looked at them in a creeped out manner. "That is seriously scary, you two." Konan said. Kisame laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Itachi bit his lip and looked at Kisame. "Well creepy or not it will work." Kisame said. "What is an EMP anyway, un?" Deidara asked kind of scared to know. "It is an Electro Magnetic Pulse Device. It interrupts power. It will shut down the fence almost as if it had been shut down in a blackout." Sasori said. "Yes! That is exactly what it is." Kisame said. Itachi nodded.

"We don't have one of those." Hidan said. Kisame grinned. "No we will have to build one. Right Itachi?" Itachi smiled for the first time in well ever around others. "Yes, we will have to build one. It will have to be powerful enough to shut down the entire fence." He said. "What will we need to build it?" Pein asked. Kisame was now frowning. "We will have to dismantle the engine to get the parts we need to build it." He said. Itachi looked sick. Pein looked even worse.

"It's either that or we leave and go back out into the black and find somewhere else to go." Kakuzu said. Kisame nodded. Pein sighed. He had slaved for this ship and he had finally gotten the one thing he wanted most. Now they would need to dismantle it. "No, we will leave. I won't let you ruin your ship to save my planet. It wouldn't be right." Temari said. Pein looked astonished. "Temari these are your people. Your husband and your son could be alive in there somewhere." Konan said.

"Konan is right. We will do what needs to be done to save your planet and reunite you with your family." Pein said. Kisame, Kakuzu and Itachi left the lounge to get started. Kisame looked at the engine and almost cried. "I am so sorry girl, please forgive me." He said as he began disconnecting parts. Itachi rubbed Kisame's shoulder and went to the other side to help. Kakuzu was looking at guns to see which one would be suitable to hook the EMP to. He picked up a rocket launcher and immediately set to work gutting the weapon.

Itachi removed the coils from the engine and laid them carefully on a cloth. The glass casing was fragile and the coils were what would power the device. Kakuzu brought the shelled out launcher to the engine room. He and Kisame set to work attaching the coils to the metal tube. They wired a condenser to the launcher to send spark to the coils. Right now all they had was a pretty lightning gun. After a few more stolen parts from the engine the EMP was on its way to completion.

Hidan was making sure all the weapons were loaded while Pein secured the Scrappler and the ship. It may not run anymore but he would be damned if he would make it easy for them to get inside of his ship. Zetsu and Tobi closed down the bridge. The blinders were in place and no one could see in or out of the ship. Konan and Temari helped Sasuke pack up as much food as they could into individual packs. Naruto of course spent his time eating. Sasori and Deidara were making bombs and getting them detonator ready. Sasori was now just placing fuses into his puppets and taping the wire.

Deidara was loading them into bags and placing the detonators in his and Sasori's packs. Every one was on edge as they readied themselves for a battle that would prove victorious or fruitless. Hidan was passing out weapons to each of the members of the crew. Kakuzu and Kisame finished the EMP and now carried it to the lounge. Temari and Konan handed out packs with food and water. Sasori rushed to the infirmary and packed up needles, medicine, bandages and antibiotics. He grabbed the suture kit and placed it in his bag.

Everyone stood in the lounge mentally psyching themselves up to exit the ship. Pein and Zetsu took sniper rifles and strapped them to their shoulders. Itachi and Hidan were armed with AK 47's while Kakuzu and Kisame man handled the beast that was the EMP. Konan and Temari held pistols while Sasuke was armed with a sword he had found on the lizard planet. This was the first anyone had even seen it. He strapped it across his back in easy reach. Naruto was handed a pistol and looked at Hidan in distaste.

Hidan shrugged and turned to Tobi. He handed him another AK 47 and put an extra sniper rifle on his back. No doubt Kakuzu would want it when they shut down the fence. Itachi held Kisame's sniper rifle on his own shoulder and they were all ready to go. They took silent moments to prepare themselves for the challenge ahead. Pein turned and opened the door. They stepped out into the sunlight and Pein closed the door. He fired up a small hand held torch and welded the door shut in spots. He put his hand against the ship and whispered goodbye to it.

They all turned and headed to the edge of the city keeping low so they could find a spot in the fence to use the EMP and then cut it without being seen. They came upon a spot that was deserted and Kisame and Kakuzu stood at the fence about four feet away. They held the EMP up and pointed it straight at one of the power coils in the fence. They looked at each other and hoped this would work. They pulled back on the trigger and the device went off. The fence made a soft sizzle noise and then went dead.

Kisame picked up a stick and tossed it into the fence. It dropped to the ground and the fence stayed silent. Kisame and Kakuzu turned and began digging a hole. Zetsu went over to the fence and cut a section out of it. Kisame and Kakuzu dug the hole as deep as they could by hand and placed the EMP into it. They buried it back up and took their guns from Hidan and Itachi. Everyone crawled through the fence one by one. Zetsu rewired the fence and stood back to admire his handy work.

They moved along the edge of the perimeter. An abandoned church came up in the distance. They made their way to the church and slipped inside from the back. Odds are all the people would be in one location or a couple to be better controlled. Pein and Kakuzu walked around the church making sure it was empty. It was so they settled in and began making a plan. Stage one was complete. Now they needed to get their hands dirty.


	25. Chapter 24

Search for Salvation Ch 24

Night came on and Pein and Kakuzu stepped unseen out of the church. Zetsu and Kisame followed suit and they made their way in the dark to the nearest abandoned building. They went inside and began looking for a way up onto the roof. They found it in the form of a high window making it easy to get to the rooftop. They crawled on their stomachs so they wouldn't be seen and Pein began looking around at the activity below.

Guards walked back and forth in intervals up and down the streets. They were more or less protecting the perimeter for any outside interference. They weren't doing that great of a job considering Pein and his crew had already infiltrated the city. Pein wasn't complaining though. They had made it easier for him and his crew to take them out.

Pein turned to look at his crew. "Kisame stay here. Zetsu, Kakuzu come with me." Pein said. They crawled on their stomachs back in through the window and exited the building. Pein moved further down the street with Kakuzu and Zetsu in tow. About seven buildings from the one Kisame sat on Pein crawled in through a hole in the wall. He motioned the other two to follow.

They made their way to the roof and again Pein surveyed the activity below them. He turned to Kakuzu. "You take this one. Zetsu follow me." He said. Zetsu nodded and followed. Pein moved down the street and crossed it to an abandoned building. Zetsu followed next when they were certain the guards weren't looking. They climbed to the roof and again Pein assessed the situation. He was placing his fighters in different locations for a better invasion.

He turned to Zetsu and Zetsu nodded. Pein turned and climbed off the roof. He made his way down the street to another abandoned building. He climbed to the roof and set himself up in sniper mode. Konan and Temari exited the church. Konan motioned for Sasori and Deidara to follow. They stepped out behind them. She motioned for them to stay low and follow her across the street. The guard had his back to them as they neatly slid across the street without a sound.

They slipped into the first abandoned building on this end of the street. They climbed to the roof and Konan repeated Pein's actions. They needed buildings that would be easy to fight from. This one worked in their favor and Sasori stayed behind. They moved down the street and Deidara took the next one. They moved on down the street and Temari took the next one. Konan placed herself much like Pein had in the farthest one away.

Itachi stepped out of the church. Hidan had found his way to the roof of it and stayed there as Tobi, Naruto and Sasuke followed Itachi to the center of the area. They slipped passed guards and slinked like cats through trees and burned vehicles. Itachi pointed to a building in the middle of a side street and Tobi nodded. He rushed to the building and slipped inside. He climbed to the roof and looked down at Itachi. He gave Itachi a thumbs up and Itachi motioned the other two on. Itachi placed Naruto and Sasuke and then placed himself. They now covered at least a mile.

Now they waited for Pein's signal. Pein had given them all headsets with a com linked to him only. They couldn't talk to each other but they could talk to him. Everyone checked in with him and he gave them the green light to begin taking out the Cyphor guards. Everyone had taken a bag with them. Each bag contained water, food, bombs, and the best of all a silencer piece for all the guns. No noise was a good thing. They all screwed the piece on the ends of their guns and began setting up their positions. Pein came over the coms once more. "Don't miss." He said going silent once more.

Kakuzu lined up his shot. He loved his job as the muscle for the crew. He had learned to shoot and he had learned to fight. He wasn't a pushover in any sense. He sighted the Cyphor and aimed for the blue glowing cylinder in the guard's chest. The guard was unaware that he was going to die and that made it all the more fun. Kakuzu pulled the trigger. The glass in the cylinder exploded and the guard hit the ground. He looked like a fish out of water the way he flopped around as the blue goo left the cylinder. The guard stopped moving after a moment.

Pein sited his gun on the guard. He angled it as best he could considering the guard walked with his side to him. He needed to be a good shot to hit the cylinder. They had all decided that was the best way to kill them if they had learned anything form the previous planet. Pein lined it up. The guard stopped almost as though he were listening. Pein pulled the trigger. He hit the cylinder from the side and it exploded as he hoped it would. The guard did a double take as if he was trying to figure out what had happened.

He fell to his knees and began to convulse as the blue goo left his body in a flood. He was still a moment later. Pein climbed down off the roof and drug the dead guard into the building. They were a rather ugly species. Pein dropped the guard on the floor in the corner. He walked out to the street and lit the goo on fire. It burned off and went out after a moment. They found the stuff to be highly flammable thanks to Hidan and his experimenting and it burned quickly into nothing.

It helped in their favor. If another guard showed up they would simply think that someone was shirking their duty and go look for the culprit. Or at least they hoped it would work like that. They couldn't afford for them to be a more intelligent race then them. Itachi dropped his guard as well. He watched as the guard jerked and shook around as though he were being electrocuted. Finally it stopped and Itachi climbed off the roof. He grabbed the guard and began to drag him to the building. Unfortunately the guard was way too big and heavy.

Itachi grunted and panted as he tried to drag the guard again. He could only move him a couple of inches at a time. This was going to be a long night if he couldn't even move one guard. "Pein I can't move the guard. He is too big and too heavy." Itachi said. "I read you Itachi. Hang on a sec." He thought for a moment. He hadn't thought about how it would affect the smaller members. "Itachi I am coming to help you. Stay put and I will be there soon." He said. If Itachi placed himself exactly where Pein hoped he would then finding him wouldn't be a problem.

Hidan was having issues of his own. "You stupid piece of shit! Why do you have to be so damn heavy and why do you stink so bad? Ever heard of a shower fuck face?" He asked giving the dead guard a kick in the stomach. The dead guard stared up blankly at him with cold dead eyes. "What the fuck are you looking at?" He asked giving the guard another kick. Not two minutes later Kisame showed up and was doing his best not to bust a gut at the very comical sight.

"Hey, Pein told me to come and give you a hand. Why aren't you wearing your headset?" Kisame asked. Hidan looked a little sheepish. "It sort of fell off while I was kicking the shit out of this fucking ass, okay?" He asked haughtily as he replaced the headset. Kisame chuckled. He grabbed the guard and drug him easily into the church. He gave Hidan a wave as he went back to his post to await Pein's next orders. Pein removed Itachi's guard from the street while Kakuzu removed Sasuke's.

Zetsu removed Naruto's while the two girls ganged up together to dispose of their own and Tobi was able to remove his own but just barely. The streets were now empty in this area. Pein gave them orders to wait a little while to see if any new guards showed up. A couple of hours later and the area was still theirs. Pein gave them orders to move North. Hidan was to take over Pein's post and so on and so forth moving out until another mile was covered. It would be slow and tedious but it was necessary.

Everyone checked in as soon as they were in position. Guards roamed the streets in this area and it was safe to assume that there would be at least two guards for every street. The night was long and seemed to be never ending. It helped as they continued to repeat their attack strategy. When they reached the five mile mark the guards became less. It was safe to say that closer to the middle of the city the guards would get heavier. It only made sense that if any people still survived that they would be held in a building maximized in capacity. The court house would provide that.

Pein called the crew in as they finished up taking the guards out. It had been a long process but it was rewarding in the aspect that it was safe to assume that they never replaced their guards. They were like machines. They had no need to replace them when they neither required food nor sleep. As the crew arrived a little at a time and they all crouched low on the roof of the building Pein occupied, they were able to get a look at the streets around them. Thanks to infrared lighting on the scopes they could make out any movement. The streets for the next three blocks were empty.

They were secure enough in their belief that anyone who escaped or got passed the fence would be killed by the guards one way or the other. Therefore they didn't guard the section between the outer edge of town and the center. True that they only had one section of a city covered but if they could get to the center f town and find the people it was safe to assume that the people would be willing to fight with a little bit of incentive. They climbed down from the roof and made their way to the court house. It was crucial that they find the people if they were to win this war.


	26. Chapter 25

Search for Salvation Ch 25

The crew moved silently and in groups through the streets. They needed to make sure they were stealthy about this and hopefully not run into any trouble while they were trying to get to the courthouse. They approached the building about a hundred feet from it and watched the Cyphors move around it like they were guarding the most dangerous animals in history. To them they probably thought they were.

Pein looked at his crew. "The people are definitely in there. We need to get passed those guards somehow." He said. Everyone nodded in agreement. Pein counted the guards all around this side of the building. There were forty or so. They would need to get passed them without causing any commotion. They sat watching to see how the guards patrolled. So far they stayed in groups of ten. Four groups lined the street. They looked like toy soldiers all lined up in a row.

Pein watched the groups closely. Five soldiers faced one way while the other five of each group faced the other. It was actually a really good guard system. In the dark the Cyphors looked ghostly. Their pale whitish blue skin stood out against the night. Pein looked at his crew. "They have too tight of a system. We can't get passed them here. My guess is that it is the same on all sides." He said. Itachi thought for a moment. "What about the sewer tunnels? There must be a manhole somewhere that we can get into." Itachi said.

Pein smiled. "Itachi, you really are a genius." He said slapping Itachi on the back. They moved away from the building and back tracked. It didn't take them long to get to a manhole cover and get down into it undetected. The smell was enough to make even the strongest of the crew gag. It took a few moments to adjust to the smell where they could walk along freely and not have to grab their mouths to keep from puking on each other. They made their way slowly back towards the court house.

Zetsu was the best navigator so he stayed at Pein's side telling how far in distance they had been and close they were now. About a half mile in they stopped. Pein listened for any kind of noise. He could hear the machines that the Cyphors were using to drill into the iron mine and he could hear water in the pipes they stood next to. He couldn't make out anything else. Zetsu moved passed Pein further down the tunnel. He stopped at a manhole cover and climbed the ladder.

He pushed the cover up about an inch and looked around. It was a basement of some sort. Zetsu pushed the cover up on all sides and looked around the room was vacant. He pushed the cover off and looked around the place. Filing cabinets lined the walls and some boxes too. He read a few of the labels on the boxes and began to realize that this was the basement of the court house. He slid down the ladder and found Pein standing next to him. "We are under the court house. The basement is empty." Zetsu said.

Pein smiled. "We are going in." Zetsu nodded and smiled back. Pein turned and walked a little ways back to inform the crew. They were all in agreement. They followed Pein back to the manhole. One by one they crawled through the hole into the basement. They slid the cover back over the hole and made their way through the basement towards an exit. Odds are the door was locked and all they could hope for was that it wasn't being guarded. If luck was on their side then it wouldn't be.

Pein tried the knob. It was locked just as he figured it would be. He took Konan's pistol and shot the lock. He grabbed the knob again and the door swung open. He stepped into the hallway and looked around. Luck was with them. There were no Cyphors here. He waved his crew onward. They followed him single file down the hallway. There were stairs that led up to the next level. Pein halted the crew and walked up the steps. He pressed his back against he wall and looked around the corner.

No Cyphors awaited him here so he motioned the crew up the stairs. He walked with his rifle ready looking in all possible locations for Cyphors or people. Neither appeared. There were a bunch of empty offices and counters. Pein looked around the first floor. It was completely deserted. Pein eyed the stairs to the second level. He motioned the crew to follow. They followed all except for Deidara and Sasori. They stood guard at the stairs in case Cyphors entered the building. Pein moved the rest of them upward.

The second floor was empty as well. Sasuke and Naruto stayed on this one to keep the Cyphors at bay should Deidara and Sasori fail. With any luck there weren't any Cyphors in the building. Pein moved them up to the third floor. Again the floor was empty. Konan and Temari stayed on this floor. The rest moved to the fourth floor. This floor wasn't so empty. Five Cyphors occupied this floor. They stood two by the elevator and two by the stairs. One stood in the middle of the room. Pein turned to the crew.

"Five Cyphors are guarding this floor. We must be getting close." Pein whispered. Kakuzu, Kisame, Zetsu, Pein and Hidan readied their weapons. They each picked a Cyphor and aimed at them through the glass. Pein counted it down and they all simultaneously pulled the trigger. The five Cyphors hit the floor. Pein opened the door and they made their way over to the Cyphors they had shot making sure they were dead. They seemed to be having neurological meltdowns due to being shot in the head.

Pein rolled his over and shot the cylinder in its chest. Hidan did the same. Kakuzu, Kisame and Zetsu followed suit. Pein took a deep breath before moving up the stairs to the next floor. The next floor held six Cyphors. The guard was getting heavier it would seem the higher up they went. Guns at the ready Itachi joined in on this one. They shot through the glass and approached them cautiously. One of them still had enough mentality to aim his weapon at Itachi who shot him in the cylinder quickly to keep him from making any noise.

They moved to the next floor and were welcomed with the sight of more Cyphors. There were eight on this floor. They would have to take their chances and shoot seven of the eight and hope they were quick enough to take the last one out before he had a chance to turn on them. They took aim and fired. The seven dropped and Hidan was quick to shoot the eighth. Kakuzu looked at him in approval. Hidan smiled and winked. They moved to the guards cautiously yet again. Shooting them in the cylinder and then Hidan turned to the last one who had his weapon aimed at Hidan's own head.

Kakuzu shot the cylinder before the Cyphor knew what was happening. Hidan breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost gone to never land. Kakuzu gave him a quick hug as they approached the seventh floor. This floor contained people. Pein turned to his crew. "We found them. My guess is that the next several floors are people. We might run into a few Cyphors so be ready." He said. They all nodded and Pein opened the door. They entered the room and were given shocked glances. People just sat and stared in open mouthed surprise. A few looked scared even. "We are here to help you." Pein said.

No one made a sound. No one moved. They all seemed to be frozen in wonder, fear, dismay or denial. "We are going to take back this planet, but we need your help to do it. We know their weakness and they can be killed." Pein said trying to get some kind of confirmation out of the people that they were ready to help. He wasn't getting it. "So can we and too many of us have already trying to keep our planet from being taken over." One guy said. Pein nodded and held up a hand. "I believe that. How many people were there fighting? A dozen? A couple dozen? That isn't enough. If you want your planet and your freedom back, you will all have to fight to make it happen.

Now me and my crew were able to infiltrate the city and take out the guards on the edge of town up until we reached the building. There is a basement in this building and there is manhole in it. We can travel out to the edge of town and take over the abandoned buildings there. Once we are ready we can begin going in with force. There is safety in numbers. We will need as many as we can get to make this happen." Pein said. No one moved or blinked. "You are crazy. You will get us all killed." A woman cried. Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "You people are incredible. You have lost your homes and your planet and all you care to do now is die like a heard of cattle.

You just sit here waiting to be picked off one by one. If I were going to die anyway, the least I could do is go down fighting. At least I could say I tried." Kakuzu shouted. Now that got a few people's attention. "How will we fight? We are unarmed." One guy said. "We have a few weapons and we can get more if we know where to look." Hidan said. Kakuzu nodded at Hidan. "Okay, but how do we get to those weapons?" A guy asked. Pein smiled. "Now those are the questions we want to hear. We have our ways. We are not from this planet but we have figured out how to use the Cyphors technology against them." Pein said.

The guy nodded. A few other guys were starting to get interested. "First we need to get all the people in this building to want to help. We will need as many people that can hold a weapon to fight with us. We can get all of the children out of harms way by going through the tunnel we came through. Pein said. Woman were really liking that idea. A couple of guys stood up. "We will fight along side of you. We're tired of being holed up here waiting to die." One of them said as the other nodded. Pein smiled. He looked around the room. Men were beginning to stand up all around the room and even a couple of woman.

Pein was pleased. By the time they were done standing only a handful of adults were left sitting. Most of them were woman with a small child. Pein could understand that. "You are all making the right choice. My crew and I are going to go up to the higher levels and get more to join us. Sit tight and we will be back, willing a Cyphor doesn't get the best of us." Pein said. "There are no Cyphors on the upper floors. They don't guard any higher and they don't stay in the rooms with us. They are afraid of us." One guy said. "Why is that?" Pein mused. "Because or blood is toxic to them." A guy said.

Pein was shocked to learn this but he couldn't help but laugh. "Toxic huh?" He asked in amusement. "Yes, one drop of our blood sends them into convulsions and makes those cylinder things in their chest explode." A younger guy said. He shuddered as if remembering. Pein was delighted. Kakuzu looked at Pein as though he were a little crazy. Which he was, so he really wasn't far off the mark. "Well then we will go up and get the rest of our recruits and make sure to bleed on the Cyphors should we see any." Pein said jokingly. The young guy looked almost horrified. "Just kidding." Pein said and they headed up to the next floor for more recruits.


	27. Epilogue

Search for Salvation Ch 26

Pein moved up the floors one by one with his crew in tow. Four floors had people willing to fight and women willing to save their children. The floors were completely packed from front to back with as many people that could fit. It really did look like a cattle drive the way they were all herded together. Pein turned to Kakuzu and Hidan. "Clear the first floor. Take them through the tunnels and get them away from the building. We are going to need to be ready to take on the Cyphors when they are least expecting it." Pein said.

Kakuzu nodded and turned to go back down to the first floor of people. Hidan stayed close with his eyes sharp in case a Cyphor had made his way past Deidara and the others. They reached the first floor and the people were giddy with anticipation. "Alright listen up everyone. I need all of you to follow us single file down to the main floor and then to the basement. We will move through the tunnels and out side of the Cyphors barrier. Women please carry your children if they are too big to be carried hold on to them tightly." Kakuzu said loudly for all to hear.

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. Hidan and Kakuzu stood by the door a moment longer to make sure everyone knew the drill. Zetsu came down to the back of the building and waited. "I am here to make sure the floor gets cleared for the next one." He told Kakuzu through the com. "Gotcha." Kakuzu said and turned to make his descent. Hidan followed and the people followed behind them. As they passed Konan and Temari, Kakuzu gave them a brief run down on their plan. The girls nodded and stayed off to the side.

People poured in hoards down the stairs. It seemed as though they would never end. Finally a call came through the com. "The first floor is clear. No one stayed behind." Zetsu said. Kakuzu pushed his com button. "I read you." He said and led the group through the basement down the manhole into the sewer tunnels. Freedom was so close that the people were getting more pep in their step with each moment. Pein maneuvered all the people from the second floor to the first. He hadn't expected things to go as planned but it was working like clock work.

The sound of gunfire rang out from a few floors below. He figured it was Deidara and Sasori's floor that it came from. Pein held his breath for a moment before Sasori called back to him that all was clear. Pein released his breath and once again thanked whoever taught Kisame to fiddle with electronics. If he hadn't the coms still would have only worked one way. Pein called back a confirmation and turned to the people. He held up his hand to silence the room. "Okay everyone. My people are going to take this floor down to the sewer tunnels. Follow their instructions and everyone will make it out without any problems." Pein turned and made his way back up to the next floor of people.

Kisame and Itachi led the next floor out of the building. No one dared try to take charge as they were all just glad to be getting out of the courthouse. Once on the outside it might be another story. Kisame and Itachi spoke to the other paired teams on the way down letting them know how many more would be passing through here. If one had to calculate how many people the number came around five thousand easy. Moving that many people wasn't a cinch but it had no choice but to work. Pein couldn't even fathom the thought of a stampede.

The day crept on as people continued to move through the halls and the stairwells to the basement and through the tunnels. Temari leaned against the wall ready to fall asleep as the scene never changed. She sighed as the next floor of people moved down the stairs. She glanced up just as a familiar head of dark hair moved down the stairs. "Shikamaru?" She whispered. The male must have heard the whisper because he looked up into Temari's face. It was unmistakable. "Shikamaru!" She screamed as she yanked him out of the line and into her arms.

His arms went around her instinctively and he held her against him. "Oh my god, Temari. I thought you were dead. I tried to find you but I could never get a good lead. Someone told me that you had left us for someone else. I was sure it was a lie but I never gave up hope that you would come back." He murmured into her hair. Tears soaked his shirt from both her and him. She kissed his lips several times and then hugged him again. He never let go during the whole thing and was just content to stand there holding his wife whom he believed to be dead for two years.

Konan smiled at Temari through the line of people. She was so happy for her. Temari smiled back at Konan and then turned to Shikamaru. "Where is he? Where is our son?" She asked, hope filling her eyes. Shikamaru looked down almost guiltily. "A bunch of people were fleeing to the mountains to try to stay free of the Cyphors. I begged Kiba and Hinata to take him with them. I had to stay behind to make sure that our family and friends got out." He said quietly. She smiled. "You did the right thing. If they made it then he is safe and we will find him when this is over." She said. Shikamaru smiled at her and held her tighter.

The sun set as the last of the people escaped the building. So far no other Cyphors had come into the building. 'Such trusting saps they were.' Pein thought as he rounded up the rest of his crew. He seen Temari with an extra and introduced himself to Shikamaru. Shikamaru shook his hand and thanked him for bringing Temari home. "That is one brave, strong wife you have there. Hold onto her this time." Pein said warmly. Shikamaru smiled. "I plan too." He turned Temari towards the stairs and they all followed Pein out of the building. Deidara was the first to notice Shikamaru as they approached the basement. "You found him, un!" Deidara almost shouted excitedly.

Temari laughed and nodded as she ruffled Deidara's hair. He pouted and straightened his blond locks as Sasori kissed his cheek with a laugh. They reentered the sewer tunnels once more and feeling victorious as they did. Now the real battle would wage. They only hoped that it all went in their favor. Pein and the crew moved out through the night glad to be above ground once more as they made their way back to the edge of town where they had started. People surrounded the streets but did well to hide from view as they did.

Pein rounded up the women and children and escorted them into the church. Some women without kids stayed to be in the battle. Pein stood at the front of the group. Even without the women and children at least three thousand men and women remained. Pein was pleased with the outcome. They needed a good place to get their men armed and ready. Pein knew that Cyphors would be back around here before too long wondering why none of the others reported in. "I know this place. It is a warehouse only a mile or two on the edge of town. That should work." One guy said. Pein nodded, taking it into consideration.

"Which part of town? This end has been cleared of Cyphors but anywhere else they will be there. The guy nodded. "It isn't too far from here. I would say about a mile or so from here." The guy said. Pein thought about it. Another guy nodded and Pein made the decision. "Okay, we go to the warehouse. As long as it hasn't been taken over by Cyphors we will use it for our hideout/armory. The women and children will stay in the church. It is solid and almost soundproof. Temari and Konan will stay and guard the church. Only because they are women and women know what children need." Pein said trying to cover his chauvinistic decision. Temari smiled and Konan glared.

Pein gathered the people and his crew and moved to the warehouse. Luck was on their side as they entered the enormous building. There wasn't a Cyphor to be found and the warehouse was deserted. Kisame and Itachi put together a plan to find the military base. Walking was going to put them behind but it didn't seem smart to be driving around in a vehicle that screamed look at me. So they set out on foot by Shikamaru's directions. Shikamaru had argued that he would stay with Temari in case anything happened and the girls might need him. It was Kakuzu that made Pein give up on trying to get him to come with them.

Kisame and Itachi followed the directions as best they could but it really sucked having to walk. Kisame kept his eye out for anything that might make it a little easier. A riding lawn mower would be like shooting a flair to warn the Cyphors. Not to mention it would only haul one person. It was only luck that Kisame happened to see a four wheeler that would haul both of them and it was full of fuel. It didn't quite smell like gas but it smelled like gold to Kisame as he fired it up and listened to the quiet rumble of the engine. He smiled at Itachi and climbed on the four wheeler. Itachi almost complained about having to ride bitch but decided it didn't matter as long as they could get there sooner.

Pein looked at the sky. Night had come on full force and he wondered what the Cyphors were going to do when they realized that all the people were gone. He knew they wouldn't be happy but he wondered if they would come looking for them again knowing that they would be expecting them to come this time. One thing that Pein had learned about the Cyphors was that they didn't attack unless you didn't see it coming. They were cowards and that is what Pein was hoping for when the battle ensued. If they had any hope of winning they were going to have to play all of their cards right.


End file.
